Pyeremena Vyeter
by Yurii Savinov
Summary: Sequel to Chetirye Vyeter. Full Summary inside. TalaOC, KaiOC, BryanxOCxGarland, SpencerOC, IanOC, BrooklynOC
1. Reunion

**Changing Winds**

**Reunion**

* * *

The Blitzkrieg Boys are finally rid of Boris and Voltaire for good, and now that they can settle down again in Russia, everything seems to be normal… at least, until they run into the new Russian team: an all-girls team, the Four Winds. They're all from different parts of Europe, and they're _good._ Very good. Not about to be replaced, the result is one hell of a showdown where it's boys versus girls. Here's one other odd little tidbit; the team captain's bit beast appears to be Dranzer's long lost mate…

* * *

**Yurii:** _I'm ba-aaack! How cool is this, my first sequel! Heh… that sounds kind of retarded, but anyway… DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!!!_

* * *

The same unforgiving winter was back, and the internal drive to survive came along with it. It was dark, cold, and unforgiving; such was the season called winter in Russia.

However, despite it appearing that everything was the same as had been throughout the whole year, there were at least five faces who would be changed immensely by the time they returned, and in the upcoming tournament, the world would follow in their footsteps.

* * *

Somewhere in the mountains of Siberia amidst the desolate frozen terrain, a pillar of red and gold stood out against the white and gray of the raging blizzard. A shrill war cry almost drowned out the wind before being joined by two more in a chorus, with them springing up one column of mauve and another of dark obsidian.

As quickly as they had come, they were gone as their colors collapsed into a black, crimson and bronze blade raised in the air. The hand clenched around it drew it back down and stared down at it before the owner of the hand and the blade smirked.

* * *

In a harbor in Finland, yachts and ships alike were being tossed like toy boats in a bathtub as wave after wave, some of sound and some of water, smashed into them relentlessly. Only an imprudent few were fool enough to leave their ships there; in only the first week had most yacht owners learned of the aspiring world-class blader's arrival and quest, and from anywhere within a mile's radius, anyone outside or peering out their window could see a tall, rearing figure before it disappeared.

A midnight blue and gold streak returned to a pair of boots, the waiting feet of its master; the body they were attached to bending down to retrieve it and preparing to launch again. Only three more days…

* * *

If one looked hard enough, one could see a long hanging bridge leading through the mist to a painted Indonesian temple nestled high in the mountains, and just over the sound of the waterfall emerging from an archway adorned with bells, wind chimes, and gongs could be heard the sounds of determined yells, grunts of effort and of impact, clashing sparring weapons and somewhere in the noise, a wild-spirited horse's whinny.

Moving in almost perfect unison, a crimson and gold blade and its red, orange, gold and white-clad owner leaped from pole to pole, some on their feet and some on their hands. A pair of wise old eyes watched as the aura of a stallion followed the human half of the two. Both halted as they reached the end of the course, and it seemed as if they were panting, breathing in unison.

* * *

Munich, Germany. It was anything but forgiving in the winter time, but regardless, two pairs of determined eyes, one pair a brandy brown-gold, the other like frozen turquoise, stared down two blades as they mercilessly hammered one another. The larger blade was cobalt blue and bronze, the other black and gold. Both of them seemed to be enveloped by their own aura of battle, and each wore their own look of determination.

The elder of the two raised one arm in the air, fist clenched as the blue and bronze blade smashed into the black and gold one, finishing their little skirmish. The young, pigtailed owner of the defeated blade merely grinned and loaded their blade back into its respective launcher, readying for another round. The victor shifted back into a fighting stance, beckoning a challenge.

It wouldn't be long before the world would see what they could do.

* * *

"_In other news, the Beyblade World Championship Preliminaries are beginning starting next week, where our country will be represented by the Blitzkrieg Boys and two new teams on the scene; the Soviet Knights and the Four Winds-"_

Kai switched off the TV when two pictures, one of each of the female Russian team captains, appeared on the screen. In the one on the left, Taylia was standing sideways as if just turning around and looking to the side at the camera as if she hadn't known until just that moment her picture was being taken.

Nearly half a year ago, she and her three other teammates had simply disappeared without warning or notice, and not even the BBA had been able to track them down in that time.

Well, wherever it was the female phoenix had gone, he intended to give her one hell of a 'welcoming'. He too had been training his ass off in preparation for the next tournament; if not last year, he wanted to beat Tyson and earn the title he worked so hard to bring into reach.

However, what was really nagging him from the back of his mind was what in the world she had in mind to do with Black Dranzer; was she going to use it in the tournament, or would she keep it out of the way where he couldn't cause any damage.

He suddenly had a new appreciation for captains like Tala and Taylia who had all these kinds of variables to worry about.

_Until we meet again, Syeverniy._

* * *

"AAAAAANNNDDDD WELCOME Beyblade fans to the Tournament Preliminaries! I'm Brad Best here with AJ Topper and we'll be announcing all the battles!"

"Suuu-weet! For those of you who watched the previous tournament or who are new to the sport, here's how these rounds are gonna work; this year, we're only going to have one blader from each team battle two others from another team, which means the teams are going to have to choose wisely and fight hard to get a good standing in the first rounds of the preliminaries!"

"Let's bring in the teams, shall we?"

The crowd roared as the four entrances to the arena opened and the teams filed out onto the field. The cheering became loudest as the resident Russian boys' team made their entrance, never once acknowledging that the crowd was there.

"And now ladies and gentlemen, let's give a round of applause to the newest teams joining the competition; give it up for the Soviet Knights and the Four Winds!!"

The crowd somehow managed to scream and applaud even louder as the eight entered, both on opposite sides of the arena. From their bench, Kai studied the Four Winds out of the corners of his eyes. They hadn't changed a lot, save for their wardrobes (their gloves remained the same).

Taylia now wore a sleeveless charcoal-gray halter top, the collar being a kind of black dog collar. Two black straps held it tight to her middle, all three held by silver buckles. She had the same unattached sleeves, held up by black buckled armbands. The cargo pockets on her pants legs appeared to be strapped to her legs with a black band, her belt was replaced by a trench coat tied around her waist, and she had her beyblade gear hanging from a belt worn loosely over her jacket with the holster attached.

Drayea had traded in her thick brown sweater for a tighter shirt of a slightly lighter shade which had a large hole on each of the shoulders as if someone had attached long sleeves to a tank top. Her vest was now much shorter and was fastened shut at the neck, and her shoes now had a metal plate on the front of the toe. The blue cargoes were intact.

Riikka's single strap shirt was similar to Drayea's, but hers was more or less a long-sleeved shirt with a shoulder-cut collar and the same holes in the arm/shoulder area as her elder teammate. It was still midnight blue, and she now had a brown corset around her middle. Her black leather pants were the same, save for the blue bandana tied around her leg, and her lightning-bolt charm choker still adorned her neck.

Mitsu had the greatest difference; her clothing looked more like a uniform; it was all silk, and the over shirt was still short-sleeved and oriental style; however, the shirt was a bright, rich red with a gold yin-yang and black kanji on her chest. The front still hung down to her shins in the front and back, and in place of her black belt was a dark red sash that crisscrossed from her waist to the bottom of her chest where it was tied. Under that was a long-sleeved white shirt with flowing sleeves, the ends lined with gold. Her pants were black silk, no slits this time, and her boots now had athletic tape wrapped around the ankles.

He smirked and kept his gaze on the Russian.

_Not a bad change, Strelnikov, now let's see how your blade has changed in the past few months._

* * *

On the west side of the field, a certain dragon was waving her arms, catching Riikka's attention. Danica, who had been the one doing it, grinned and gave her the peace sign, getting one in return.

She still wore the same colors; black, blue and gold, and had traded her gloves in for a pair identical to Taylia's; black with a metal plate on the backs of her hands. She now wore a strapless goldenrod shirt with a black stripe across her chest, and she had apparently also borrowed Taylia's style with the sleeves, but hers were held up by goldenrod-colored bandanas. Over her shirt was a black vest that reached the middle of her chest and had a collar that stuck up. Her cargoes were replaced by shin-length steel blue cropped pants, and her boots were now knee-length black combats with a small metal plate over the top of each foot and a yellow strap around her ankles.

Had she shown up looking like that at school, the teachers would have kicked her out in an instant. Regardless… she was just glad to get away from that asshole Spangler.

_Womanizer bastard…_

* * *

"Before we begin, the teams get to see who their opponents will be!!"

Up on the huge screen, three columns, the middle one saying 'vs.' and the left and right ones with the different team names being shuffled too fast to read. One by one, the rows stopped. Behind her, Taylia could practically _hear_ the smirk on Drayea's face at their results.

BLITZKRIEG BOYS vs. CONQUISTADORS **(1)**

SOVIET KNIGHTS vs. PBA ALL STARZ

WHITE TIGERS X vs. JUSTICE FIVE **(2)**

BBA REVOLUTION vs. THE MAJESTICS

FOUR WINDS vs. F-DYNASTY

_This is going to be easy._

* * *

"3, 2, 1, LET IT RIIPPP!!!"

The ten bladers gathered around their designated beyblade dish let loose their blades in unison, all almost immediately shouting out some command to their bit beast.

In the arena where the Four Winds were taking on the F-Dynasty, Drayea was effortlessly pummeling Raul into submission; Taylia smirked and folded her arms, knowing that right now she was merely toying with him.

The two best ways to tell how much of an effort she was making were her posture and her expression; the former was that her arms were folded and she was standing up straight, the latter being a taunting and confident smirk.

"Yo, _Zapadno_," She called up, "Why not just finish it, you're boring us over here."

The redhead's smirk became a grin.

"Aye, cap'n."

She turned back to her blade, which was literally blading circles around Torch Pegasus to the point where the winged horse's master was starting to look very dizzy following it with his eyes.

"Alright Gundula, lets end this! Attack!"

The Z-Scythe complied immediately, using the ever-familiar slingshot technique by swerving in an arc around the arena before shooting back and smashing her opponent's blade out of the ring. On the scoreboard where their pictures were displayed, Raul's picture went dark to proclaim Drayea the winner.

The German remained nonchalant and held out her hand, the blue and bronze beyblade returning to her waiting hand. She turned on her heel and walked back down to their bench, expression stoic. Her eyes, however, were bright. Taylia smirked, arms folded.

"You haven't changed much in the past five months, Drayea." She said as she stood up.

"I could say the same of you, Tai." The griffin replied with a smirk. The smirk became a stupid, cheesy grin as the griffin playfully punched her teammate's shoulder, though it was intentionally much more forceful than necessary.

Taylia, grinning with a trace hint of pain and rubbing her 'injured' shoulder, slapped her on the back almost violently, landing the older teenager on the ground from the force, face first. Riikka and Mitsu both sighed.

Nope, neither one had changed much in the time they were apart.

At least the tension from their fight was gone.

"Don't forget, I'm stronger than you now, so you can't pick on me anymore!" Taylia taunted, though it was all in good nature. Drayea, pretending to be angry, flipped her a birdie and sat down at the bench.

**Taylia: 1; Drayea: 0**

It was definitely going to be interesting the next month or so.

* * *

"Gundula, finish this! Arctic Circle!"

A raging torrent of snow and wind shot towards the already-doomed captain of the White Tigers X, and next thing anyone knew Drayea's picture on the score board lit up and Lee's went dark. Raising her fist in the air, the parts of the crowd that had been watching Drayea and Lee battle cheered as a smile adorned her face, a rare sight to those who knew her well enough.

On the other side of the field, Tala had already finished off both his opponents in a flurry of snow and ice and had resumed his normal spot leaned against the wall, arms folded.

_Five months._

He'd had five months to think, and now it suddenly didn't seem like enough time. Just thinking back to when he and Bryan had knocked on their door to hand Anniina over, he didn't know whether to be pissed as hell at the Japanese-American who made them kiss or to hug her and thank her until someone stopped him.

…

Uhh… let's go with the first one.

As for the German girl… well….

He really didn't know what to think about her.

Having seen her in a state of total vulnerability before made it seem like he had some new kind of weight resting on his shoulders… to put it simply, the closest he could come to explaining it was to tell the person listening to picture an alpha wolf fighting off an attacker.

**It's called protectiveness, master. It's not that different than the urge to defend your 'pack', but in this case it's more about territory.**

Tala mentally cast a sardonic look at his bit beast.

_'Territory'? Since when is Drayea 'territory'?_ He growled.

**Since _you_ started to like her. I suppose there's no need to worry; none of these other pathetic males are of any real competition anyway. **

Tala's expression became a flat glare.

_When will you get it out of your head, I don't like her **that** way._

**And the constant blushing around one another is just a typical 'friends' thing?** Wolborg retorted slyly.

Much to the wolf spirit's delight, a slight tinge of red appeared on the bridge of his nose.

Direct hit!

_I hate you._

Wolborg's only response was smug laughter, getting him to blush a darker red.

_WHY did I have to get him for a bloody partner…?_

* * *

"So, Miss Strelnikov thinks she could outsmart me by splitting up. Not a bad strategy, Taylia, but not a good one either."

Behind him, three of the Soviet Knights remained silent as Alekzander stood up from his place watching playbacks of that day. This part, however, had been taken in their lounge when the matches were over.

Nadriya cast an uneasy glance at her subordinates. Solongo was as stoic as always; almost to a fault. Nadina's expression was one of focus, though it wasn't as intense as the one she wore when she battled. Lilja was somewhere in the medical facilities, probably being poked and prodded with needles in the scientists' attempts to reverse some of the grotesque physical mutations left on the Greenlandic blader; she was like a human version of Ukaleq now.

The thought sent a bolt of cold down her back.

**Mistress, don't forget; you cannot show your skepticism. You know what happens to those who do.**

_I know, Zimyatov._

Somehow, she managed to relax her face enough to erase the dark scowl of doubt she'd been wearing while Alekzander had his back turned. As he turned and left, she couldn't help but feel like someone's eyes were on her back.

* * *

"Hey Niina! It's been almost 4 months since I've seen ya!"

The little Russian girl giggled as her 'big sister' playfully ruffled her hair, which she now wore in a single ponytail. She'd actually gotten a bit taller in the past half-year –she was already four-and-a-half feet tall-, and just like themselves her birthday was approaching as well.

Mitsu had already turned seventeen in their time apart; Taylia would be eighteen in three weeks and Riikka would be seventeen in two months' time. Drayea wouldn't be nineteen until early spring.

It seemed so funny that they were all almost completely grown-up and Anniina would only be turning seven.

Riikka didn't seem to mind.

In fact, seeing her acting like a big sister was the happiest any of them had seen her in a long time. Taylia, however, probably noticed the biggest changes in the gray-eyed Finn.

Aside from having an enormous responsibility as big as taking care of a child, she was adapting to fit the kind of older-sister figure that replaced a mother that wasn't there. What was amusing was that there actually did seem to be a member of their team that was taking on the role of the mother-figure.

Most people would have guessed Mitsu, maybe her…

Believe it or not, it was Drayea.

Even though she wasn't as interactive with the girl as Riikka or Mitsu, wherever she was Taylia could almost always find Drayea somewhere nearby watching her with a sharp eye. Somehow, it didn't surprise her that much.

Once someone managed to worm their way into Drayea's ice-encrusted heart, they remained there forever; one of the three ways –this being the most significant- to determine if she cared about someone was that she became _extremely_ protective of them.

After all, it had been Drayea who'd finished off Riikka's father after Taylia had trapped his knife with her arm.

She smirked. The redhead had one nasty left hook that she hadn't tasted in a while, and judging by the slightly darkened aura she gave off, she had the feeling she'd get it the next time they sparred.

"Oi, Syeverniy, head out of the clouds if you don't mind."

Said North Wind shot her shorter teammate one of her patented 'Eat Shit'© glares. Of course, she herself had changed significantly in the past half year; the cold, unforgiving sleet and wind of Siberia and Greenland had (somehow) managed to make her slightly easier to annoy.

"We'll see whose head is in the clouds when we've battled. I want to see that you haven't been wasting your own time since we split up."

Taylia smirked deviously, and they all knew she had something up her sleeve. Riikka, who had been the one to speak up, gulped.

_This is going to end badly…_

* * *

"-pant- -pant- Jesus fucking Christ Tai… -pant- where the _hell_ did you learn **that** one?"

A smirk identical to the one she made a few hours ago lit up the phoenix's face.

"It's a brand-new custom attack. I'll be very interested to see how Nadriya or any other of those Soviet Nitwits try and counter this one." She mused.

The other Winds groaned –save for Drayea- and flopped tiredly back into the snow, staring up at the color-stained sky. They'd been spar-blading for nearly 4 hours now, and Taylia's new 'Собой техника' (**Suicide Technique**) was like nothing they'd ever encountered.

"Well, since all of you are ready to call it a day, I might as well inform you on what I dug up on our 'friends' the Soviet Knights."

* * *

"First, there's the team captain, Nadriya Rzhyov. Her blading style tends to change a lot, but her chief focal point is attack power, so she doesn't have a very good defense. Nadriya's bit beast is an ice dragon called Zimyatov, and it's Heavy Offense, the Nor'easter Cleaver, is one nasty piece of work. Drayea, you have the advantage here since you specialize in heavy attacking power, so she's your primary focus.

"Lilja Aputsiaq was the blader who had the supernatural dragon Ukaleq. Since she's recently been 'upgraded', her stats have definitely gone up. However, if her blading style is the same, I can tell you that she'll wait for you to strike, analyze your movements and attack patterns, then try to overwhelm you with a full-out frontal assault. If that doesn't work, she'll go straight to her Typhoid Dusk. If she does, immediately use a Heavy Offense. It's better to tie after she's used that attack then to risk staying in the smog and trying to win. Riikka, you have the best endurance, so she's your opponent.

"Solongo Choybalsan is the darker-skinned girl, the Mongolian. Her armored fire wolf, Quidel, is a two-headed spirit, so she's got double the endurance of most bladers. However, because she can run for a long time, it's at the cost of her evasive ability. Her weight disk is the key part of her attack power and ability to outlast, so the best way to defeat her is with speed. Mitsu, she'll be your target.

"Lastly, there's Nadina. Apparently she has no last name to speak of; anyway, she's the powerhouse of the four, not just in her blading but her physical and mental capabilities as well. Her bit beast is a shadow type, and all I know about it is that her bit beast is named Korbinian. This team fights just like Garland did in the last tournament; with physical attacks on the opponent _blader_. Since my stats can counter hers, I'll take her on if they decide to have her blade.

"The last thing I have to warn you about is how they blade in a serious match. I know from experience that they'll intentionally pick a ring or some kind of element to make it seem like you have the advantage, but they somehow manage to use it against you. I've seen one case where Lilja fought another blader in a dish with a huge fan in the center. Supposedly, it would blow away any of her attacks (literally), but she actually knocked it to face her opponent and blow her Typhoid Dusk straight into their face.

"They fight dirty, and the only way we can pull this off is with well-thought strategies and attacks. Got it?"

Drayea, Riikka and Mitsu nodded. Niina, who had been listening diligently, actually nodded as well. Taylia smirked.

"Then it's settled. You remember how we play?"

"You mess with one of us, and you deal with all of us!"

* * *

**(1) Conquistadors- formerly Barthez's Battalion**

**(2) Justice Five- formerly Team BEGA **

* * *

**Yurii:** _Not a bad comeback, eh? ;) Don't forget to review!_


	2. Four Winds Profiles

**CHANGING WINDS**

**PROFILES**

* * *

**Yurii:**_ Hello my readers! Here are the Four Winds' updated profiles! _

**_THE ATTACKS WITH MARKS LIKE THESE- ? WON'T BE REVEALED UNTIL LATER CHAPTERS!!!_**

* * *

**Name:** Taylia Rhaion Strelnikov 

**Second Name:** North Wind- Северный (Syevyerniy)

**Nickname(s):** Tai

**Age:** 17½

**Gender:** Female

**Height:** 5'7"

**Eyes:** Crimson-gold

**Hair:** Dark Brown

**Nationality:** Russian

**Birthday:** December 30th

**Rank:** Team Captain- Four Winds

**Beyblade Model:** Arseni HMS Z-Armageddon

**Bit Beast:** Arseni

**Gender:** Male

**Element:** Lightning/Fire

**Species:** Armored 4-Winged Phoenix

**Attacks:**

Solar Ravage Talon (Offense, Fire)

Photon Ravage Talon (Offense, Lightning)

? (Heavy Offense, Fire)

? (Defense, Fire)

Infernal Volcano Emission (Final Attack, Fire/Fire)

? (Final Attack, Fire/Lightning)

---

**Beyblade Model:** Black Dranzer HMS Z-Armageddon

**Bit Beast:** Black Dranzer

**Gender:** Male

**Element:** Shadow

**Species:** Armored Phoenix

**Attacks:**

? (Offense, Shadow)

? (Offense, Shadow)

? (Heavy Offense, Shadow)

? (Defense, Shadow)

? (Final Attack, Shadow/Shadow)

? (Final Attack, Shadow/Shadow)

* * *

**Name:** Drayea Nadina Rothstein 

**Second Name:** West Wind- западно (Zapadno)

**Nickname(s):** Dray/Draye

**Age:** 18½

**Gender:** Female

**Height:** 5'8"

**Eyes:** Blue

**Hair:** Auburn

**Nationality:** German

**Birthday:** April 4th

**Rank:** Blader- Four Winds

**Beyblade Model:** Gundula HMS Z-Scythe

**Bit Beast:** Gundula

**Gender:** Female

**Element:** Wind-Ice/Earth

**Species:** Griffin

**Attacks:**

Arctic Circle (Offense, Ice/Earth)

?(Offense, Ice/Wind)

Tempest Scythe (Heavy Offense, Ice/Wind)

Rockslide Sanctum (Defense, Earth)

? (Final Attack, Ice/Earth)

? (Final Attack, Wind/Ice)

* * *

**Name:** Mitsu Yuki Utariyma 

**Second Name:** East Wind- Восточный (Vostoshniy)

**Nickname(s):** None

**Age:** 17

**Gender:** Female

**Height:** 5'9"

**Eyes:** Green

**Hair:** Black

**Nationality:** Japanese

**Birthday:** September 27th

**Rank:** Blader- Four Winds

**Beyblade Model:** Raiuma HMS Z-Columbine

**Bit Beast:** Raiuma

**Gender:** Male

**Element:** Lightning

**Species:** Armored Horse

**Attacks:**

Aurora Lumen (Offense, Lightning)

Flash Voltage Strike (Offense, Lightning)

?(Heavy Offense, Lightning)

Light Screen (Defense, Lightning)

? (Final Attack, Lightning)

? (Final Attack, Lightning)

* * *

**Name:** Riikka Aila Korpela 

**Second Name:** South Wind- Южный (Uzhniy)

**Nickname(s):** Ice Princess

**Age:** 16½

**Gender:** Female

**Height:** 5'5"

**Eyes:** Grey

**Hair:** Honey-brown

**Nationality:** Finnish

**Birthday:** January 2nd

**Rank:** Blader- Four Winds

**Beyblade Model:** Ukko HMS Z-Sonic

**Bit Beast:** Ukko

**Gender:** Male

**Element:** Thunder/Sonic

**Species:** Armored Ram

**Attacks:**

Sonic Boom (Offense, Sonic)

Berserker Thunder (Offense, Thunder)

? (Heavy Offense, Sonic)

Sound Barrier (Defense, Sonic/Thunder)

? (Final Attack, Thunder)

? (Final Attack, Sonic)

**

* * *

Name:** Danica Zela Arsenyev 

**Second Name:** None

**Nickname(s):** Dani

**Age:** 15½

**Gender:** Female

**Height:** 5'1"

**Eyes:** Blue

**Hair:** Dirty Blonde

**Nationality:** Slavic

**Birthday:** July 11th

**Rank:** Blader- Majestics

**Beyblade Model:** Kazic RM

**Bit Beast:** Kazic

**Gender:** Male

**Element:** Water

**Species:** Dragon

**Attacks:**

? (Offense, Water)

? (Offense, Water)

? (Heavy Offense, Water)

Monsoon Citadel (Defense, Water)

? (Final Attack, Water)

? (Final Attack, Water/Water)

**

* * *

Name:** Anniina Saara Korpela (Adopted by Riikka) 

**Nickname(s):** Niina

**Age:** 6

**Gender:** Female

**Height:** 4'6"

**Eyes:** Brandy brown

**Hair:** Light brown

**Nationality:** Russian

**Birthday:** August 25th

**Rank:** None

**Beyblade Model:** Arseni V2

**Bit Beast:** None

**Gender:** Unknown

**Species:** Unknown

**Element:** Unknown

**Attacks:** None


	3. Primal Instinct

**Changing Winds**

**Primal Instinct**

* * *

**Yurii:** _Sweet, chapter two. Must say, I was disappointed how few LONG reviews I received. My loyal readers of _**_Chetirye Vyeter_**_, you dishearten me!_

_Oh, and here's the result of the minor couples' poll!_

**_Nadriya/Brooklyn_**

_Surprise, surprise. MUAHAHAHAHAHA!_

* * *

"You remember the drill?"

"Yep."

"Got your launcher?"

"Check."

"Blade?"

"_Jaa-ääni, kantaäiti_." (**Yes, mother.**)

The Finnish blader managed to duck a swipe at her head made by a certain, taller Japanese blader. The gray-eyed girl smirked. No matter how early in the morning it was, speaking in Finnish to Mitsu always got her irritated enough for a satisfying reaction.

Call it payback for her merciless teasing when the mare had found her and Bryan "all nice and cozy on the couch" as she so finely put it.

Riikka flushed at the thought. Every time she saw the little silver locket around Niina's neck it reminded her of the burly, taciturn Russian falcon. The five weeks she'd trained with her had been… interesting to say the least.

Anniina, being the naïve little almost-7-year-old she was, had actually asked her if she liked Bryan. The end result was an awkward face vault into the dirt from her place doing sit-ups hanging by her knees on a tree branch. It wasn't as embarrassing as it was unexpected, and the seemingly innocent question had caused the rest of her training to be plagued with thoughts of aforementioned blader.

_Daaaaaammmnnnn iiiiitttt._

If anything, it should have been Riikka trying to cuff her taller teammate around the head instead of visa-versa.

_Sigh._

It sucked being shorter.

"Oi. Shorty. Mind out of the clouds or the gutter, wherever it is, and back on topic."

Riikka shot Taylia one of her trademark _eat-dirt-and-die_ glares, and in turn received a smug grin.

That was the other thing about being the smallest.

Aside from being called Ice Princess (mostly because she _hated_ the cold, so they slapped her with this one to be cruelly ironic), her other nickname was Shorty.

Why, oh _why_ did Anniina get to be Chibi? At least that nickname was (to some extent) okay.

She was brought out of her sulking when an arm, almost heavy, fell around her shoulders. Taylia, who the arm was attached to, grinned cheerfully and pulled her youngest teammate into a noogie.

"Ah, I'm just messin' with ya, Ika. Look, since we're high up in the standings, we're going to watch today. Our first battle isn't for three days, so you can just relax, 'kay?"

"Tell that to _okaa-san_ over there." She remarked sarcastically, jerking her thumb in the direction of their Japanese-American teammate. "She's the one getting all stressed out."

"I know, but you're the one who was scowling. Besides, when is Mitsu _not_ a nervous wreck in big events such as this?" Taylia replied, somehow able to keep a straight face. Well, at least until a smile forced its way onto Riikka's face; then hers returned to her usual smirk.

However, it didn't last long when the leer became an almost saddened look.

"You may or may not want to watch; the Soviet Knights are battling the White Tigers X today."

* * *

"Welcome blading fans to the first round of the Beyblading World Championship Preliminaries! Today's going to be one heck of a battle when the Chinese team the White Tigers X goes head-to-head with one of the home teams, the Soviet Knights."

As the two teams entered the field, the crowd roared, some of them waving banners of their favorite teams. Much to Taylia's dismay, there were several 'SOVIET KNIGHTS' banners waving in scattered areas of the crowd.

The Russian phoenix narrowed her eyes.

_He's already started recruiting fans. Damn it._

**I can imagine how the Blitzkrieg Boys would react if they knew Alekzander and what his game was.** Arseni mused aloud.

At the mention of the veteran Russian team, Taylia looked up into the stands; she wasn't surprised to see that both Kai and Tala were watching from up in Mr. Dickenson's suite, and neither one of them looked too pleased either.

The younger of the two turned, his crimson eyes meeting her scarlet-gold ones. It was almost as if he knew, but wasn't telling.

_Typical Kai._

Taylia turned to leave, but she didn't notice that the blader she'd been watching was one step ahead of her.

* * *

Down in the halls beneath the stadium, it was completely deserted of beybladers since they were all probably at home watching the battle or training. Every fifth or sixth light was on, making it seem that much more foreboding. Except for the slight clopping sound the steel toes and heels of Taylia's boots, it was completely silent.

Well, almost.

Another set of footsteps, much softer –probably intentionally disguised- echoed down the hall. Although she knew they weren't the echoes of her own, Taylia kept walking; it wasn't uncommon for security guards or staff to pass through the halls.

However, she became wary when they stopped. As she rounded a corner, her suspicions were confirmed when someone rather strong grabbed her arm and shoved her against the wall. Second nature's first impulse told her to strike, but when her 'war cry' was cut off by a warm mouth roughly covering hers, it was her hormones that cancelled out the mental command.

Her 'assailant' backed off after a moment, letting her shoot a mock-angry glare at him.

"Damn it Kai… was it really necessary to try and scare the living shit out of me?"

The elder phoenix smirked, looking rather hawkish as he did so.

"And you, was it necessary to keep your location a secret for five months? It gets boring not to have a decent battle opponent." He retorted smoothly.

Taylia raised an eyebrow.

"Dare I ask, which kind of battle you're referring to?" She asked, putting in a slight tone of suggestiveness.

Kai just rolled his eyes sarcastically and leaned in again, this time lingering for a moment a few centimeters away; Taylia idly noted that his breath tasted vaguely of cinnamon.

"Damn you… how is it that of all people, I wound up being drawn to you?" She muttered, half-lidded eyes locked on his.

Kai just smirked.

"That's for you to find out."

* * *

Taylia closed the space between them, half surprising him; even having not seen one another for half a year, she still kissed like he remembered. Of course, this time he had the advantage since he had Taylia pinned to the wall.

(**A/N: Kai doesn't know about Taylia's second mutation**)

Kai immediately pushed back, forcing his tongue into her mouth and earning a low groan when he started to retrace _his_ familiar territory. Naturally, she fought back, and just like the time before, he won the battle for dominance. Taylia, who'd had her hands on his shoulders, slid them down his arms to his hands where they were gripping her waist.

Much to his surprise, in one swift moment she somehow managed to shove him back without breaking the lip lock and slammed him against the wall. Almost out of shock, he gasped slightly. Sensing something was wrong, she pulled back.

"Kai?"

He gave her a calculating look.

"Since when are you stronger than I am?" It sounded almost playful, but at the same time, there was an undertone of suspicion.

"Don't forget, I've been training, and the last time we 'fought', I was injured." She reminded him, praying he'd buy it.

Though his expression softened, she missed the skeptical look in his eyes.

* * *

"OOH! That looks like that's going to hurt for a while, folks, but Lee is still hanging in there!"

The present three of the Four Winds winced almost simultaneously as Lilja continued with her merciless assault on the White Tigers X's team captain. Even though the match was as good as over, both bladers remained persistent; Lee was on his last legs and Lilja hadn't let up on her physical attacks since the beginning of the match.

It made the battle between Ray and Bryan four years ago look like an amateur's bout.

"Ukaleq! Typhoid Dusk!"

Riikka turned away with her eyes shut tightly, not wanting to see the outcome. Mitsu did the same, but Drayea continued to watch with calculating eyes, her temper starting to rise in her blood. These Soviet Knight bitches were _way_ out of line, and the way they bladed with such low strategies only made her even angrier. Gundula was just as enraged, and her normally frigid eyes looked even colder than usual, something not even her teammates (save for Taylia) thought was possible.

In only a matter of minutes, Lee had collapsed from the Typhoid Dusk, and Lilja was proclaimed the winner. What worried her most was the fact that the crowd was _cheering_.

_They have no idea what or who they are…_ She growled in her head. _Damn it…_

Both her younger teammates by now had turned back once the match was over, and both of them cringed at the sight of the brutally injured White Tigers X team captain. A certain tiger directed a challenging, cat-eyed glare at Nadriya.

The Russian dragon merely smirked from her place leaned against the wall, her arms folded and looking rather cocky.

Challenge accepted.

"What did I miss?"

Drayea turned to look over her shoulder at her teammate, who had just come back from… wherever it is she went off to.

"Lee just got his ass handed to him on a silver platter." Mitsu informed her. "And now Ray is going to be battling Nadriya."

Taylia scowled.

"And let me guess, Lilja finished him off with Typhoid Dusk, right?"

The Japanese-American nodded solemnly.

The Russian shuddered and cringed.

"Shit…"

Drayea's eyes went to her captain's hands, which were clenched around the rail on the wall separating the audience from the fighters. The hollow metal bar was smooth all the way around the arena, except for where it was now crushed shut in the Russian phoenix's grip, as easily as if it were made only of paper.

The griffin narrowed her eyes.

_So that's how strong she's become._

Somehow, instead of anger or even bewildered confusion, something else was simmering inside her. A feeling of territoriality.

It wasn't anger.

It was competition.

* * *

"I don't believe it. I _don't want_ to believe it."

"Well, it doesn't _matter_ what you will, won't, and don't want to believe; it's not going to change the truth." Taylia stated coldly.

Riikka, unable to come up with anything, simply let her weight sink heavily into the chair Mitsu had pulled up under her. To say their rivals' performance was shocking would be an understatement; to say they were appalled by it would be redundant.

The White Tigers X hadn't even gotten to fight the regulatory three battles between all of them.

Lilja had pummeled Lee; had she gone full at him instead of toyed with the lion, he'd probably have been finished within five minutes tops. As for Ray…

Well…

He'd put up a good fight.

However…

_Good_ wasn't even remotely close to being good_ enough_.

Nadriya had gotten bored with him rather quickly, and in a rather uncharacteristic display of temper, Ray had unleashed a forceful Tiger Claw courtesy of Driger. Zimyatov, his pride not about to allow him to be outshined, countered with an equally violent Subzero Maelstrom. From there, all hell broke loose and it was all over in a single, vehement explosion.

Game over.

**Soviet Knights: 1; White Tigers X: -2**

The Finn looked worriedly at her captain; the Russian was slouching in her armchair, one elbow propped up on the armrest with her cheek resting on the knuckles of her tightly clenched fist. Her other hand, which was rested on her leg crossed over the other, impatiently drummed her fingers against her knee in thought, and a calculating glare was directed at the floor by her foot.

Taylia sighed and closed her eyes, brows furrowed, indicating she was troubled. As all three of them knew, that meant she would be extremely easy to aggravate or incense until she cooled off.

"Damn it… they're even stronger than I anticipated…" She growled; another sign that she was upset was when she started to talk to herself.

As unusual a sight it was for their captain to get this distressed, they were more focused on the fact that the team they had taken for little more than a group of wannabe showoffs actually had a lot of skill to back up their little display back in Switzerland.

Growing restless with the silence, Drayea got to her feet and headed out the door without a word; she was going out to start up another one of her intense solo training sessions, no doubt.

Taylia, too anxious to concentrate on much of anything, merely stood and retreated to her room. A moment later, Mitsu and Riikka could hear one of her mixed American CDs playing.

* * *

_Yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead _

_Yesterday is a promise that you've broken _

_Don't close your eyes, don't close your eyes _

_This is your life and today is all you've got now _

_Yeah, and today is all you'll ever have _

_Don't close your eyes _

_Don't close your eyes _

_This is your life, are you who you want to be _

_This is your life, are you who you want to be _

_This is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be _

_When the world was younger and you had everything to lose _

_Yesterday is a kid in the corner _

_Yesterday is dead and over _

_This is your life, are you who you want to be _

_This is your life, are you who you want to be _

_This is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be _

_When the world was younger and you had everything to lose _

_Don't close your eyes _

_Don't close your eyes _

_Don't close your eyes _

_Don't close your eyes _

_This is your life are you who you want to be _

_This is your life are you who you want to be _

_This is your life, are you who you want to be _

_This is your life, are you who you want to be _

_This is your life, is it everything you dreamed it would be _

_When the world was younger and you had everything to lose _

_And you had everything to lose _

**Songs like these always make you think.**

Taylia only sighed in response to her bit beast's musing.

She stared up at the ceiling from her place lying on her bed, her legs propped up against the wall. _This_ was one of those times when it _really_ sucked to be the leader. Now that the Soviet Knights had given them a glimpse of their true potential, she had her three teammates looking to her for guidance, and now she also had Niina to think about since she seemed to apotheosize the Russian phoenix.

Out of old habit, she raised her arm to push up the sleeve, baring innumerable scars. No matter how many she had, she somehow always remembered how she'd received each one and what she'd done to get it.

It was rather ironic; growing up, she'd favored her right hand thinking she could control it better. However, that's also what the guards thought as well. Punishments in the Hermitage were always cruel and unusual in some way, shape or form. One of the more often-used types was slashing the blader's favored arm, forcing them to use the other and crippling their performance, not just the limb.

Apparently, she stepped out of line a few times too many, being the natural rebel she was. Eventually, all the slashing had left her right arm almost useless. She'd resorted to using her left arm, and found that she was left-handed. Taylia didn't know whether to thank that Nelyubova bastard or kick him in the teeth.

The latter would be much more satisfying.

Smirk.

The second song had ended, and the next track was already playing.

_Is this a dream?  
If it is  
Please don't wake me from this high  
I've become comfortably numb  
Until you opened up my eyes  
To what it's like  
When everything's right  
I can't believe  
You found me  
When no one else was looking  
How did you know just where I would be?  
Yeah, you broke through  
All of my confusion  
The ups and the downs  
And you still didn't leave  
I guess that you saw what nobody could see  
You found me  
You found me  
So, here we are  
That's pretty far  
When you think of where we've been  
No going back  
I'm fading out  
All that has faded me within  
You're by my side  
Now everything's fine  
I can't believe  
You found me  
When no one else was looking  
How did you know just where I would be?  
Yeah, you broke through  
All of my confusion  
The ups and the downs  
And you still didn't leave  
I guess that you saw what nobody could see  
You found me  
You found me  
And I was hiding  
'Till you came along  
And showed me where I belong  
You found me  
You found me  
When no one else was looking  
How did you know?  
How did you know?  
You found me  
When no one else was looking  
How did you know just where I would be?  
Yeah, you broke through  
All of my confusion  
The ups and the downs  
And you still didn't leave  
I guess that you saw what nobody could see  
You found me  
(You found me)  
(When no one else was looking)  
You found me  
(How did you know just where I would be?)  
You broke through  
All of my confusion  
The ups and the downs  
And you still didn't leave  
I guess that you saw what nobody could see  
The good and the bad  
And the things in between  
You found me  
You found me _

The faraway look on her face became one of determination.

They'd come way too far as a team to turn back now; the only thing left to do was to fight back, and the only way to even the odds would be not just to put the finishing touches to what they'd trained to accomplish, but to keep going and see if they could force their limits even further.

_Yeah. We can pull this off._

* * *

"C'mon Raiuma, keep it up!"

"Ukko, finish this!"

Two blades, both of them crackling with electricity, shot towards one another and met with a metallic clash before bouncing back from the force of the other's attack. On the outside of the ring, both Riikka and Mitsu weren't letting up.

The former, apparently, had been working on her attack power and defense in the time she was away, while the latter had become disbelievingly fast and had upped her endurance dramatically.

Drayea still had yet to show them what she could do, and judging by the knowing smirk on her face, it was going to be one hell of a performance when they next fought in the preliminaries. Taylia stuck her hand into her pocket, her fingers making contact with the slightly warm metal of her Z-Armageddon. Arseni's bit chip adorned the center this time; Black Dranzer and Cyber Dranzer were both safely back in their own (out of commission) Zero-T blades.

Out of range of anyone or anything who might be after them.

_Getting them once was hard enough._ She growled mentally.

Arseni just nodded in agreement.

Taylia turned back to the ring to see two wobbling beyblades, and so far it looked like a stalemate. Riikka and Mitsu were panting, still staring one another down and determined to take the victory.

"Alright you two, break it up." She cut in. "Once you two have built up some energy, I want you two to face Drayea. In the meantime, get yourselves synchronized."

Much to their surprise, Drayea spoke up.

"No."

She turned to her captain, who had a raised eyebrow from the rather out-of-character refusal.

"I want to face you."

* * *

"3, 2, 1, LEEEETTT IIIIITTT RIIIIIIPPP!!!!"

Mitsu brought her hand down to signal launching their blades; both Taylia and Drayea reacted immediately and ripped the shooter rack out of the launcher, sending two crackling streaks of metal into the dish.

"Gundula, attack!"

"Arseni, evasive maneuvers!"

The Z-Scythe almost instantaneously shot forward to meet its opponent when the black, bronze and crimson Z-Armageddon easily shot out of its path.

(**A/N: For those who forgot… Z-Scythe is Drayea's custom-model blade and Z-Armageddon is Taylia's. Taylia engineered and built both of them as well as her other teammates' blades.**)

Drayea's expression didn't change as her blade quickly changed directions, this time managing to nick the side of Taylia's blade.

_She's gotten faster._

For Drayea, that wasn't good; she had a very heavy beyblade, giving her immense attack power, but it meant she was a lot slower than her captain who (thanks to the lightning half of Arseni) was exceptionally fast.

She was already at a huge disadvantage.

_Shit._

Then again…

Maybe she didn't have to be fast to do this.

"Arseni, attack!"

The Z-Armageddon pulled a 180-turn and came careening at the Z-Scythe, which was positioned in the very center of the dish. Drayea narrowed her eyes, waiting for the right moment.

When Z-Armageddon was only a few inches away, she gave the command.

"MOVE!"

* * *

Z-Scythe swerved off to the left, causing the tri-color blade to pass through the dust where her beyblade had been a split second ago. Taylia smirked as she felt Arseni enter her mind.

**Mistress, ideas?**

_Use the formation we worked on the first week of training._

"Arseni, FPS formation!"

* * *

Drayea's expression became a frown when the Z-Armageddon headed off in another direction (to her left) before swerving back again sharply and hitting the side of her blade opposite her blade's spin, repeating the motion and hitting her blades from all sides, leaving her defenseless.

It only took her a moment to figure out what FPS was.

_Five Point Star Formation. Clever._

"Gundula, break the formation!"

As Taylia's blade came storming in again for another hit, Drayea's blade charged back in retaliation. The two forces met with metal grinding against metal, though Taylia's blade was getting pushed back by Drayea's much heavier blade.

The phoenix narrowed her eyes in focus, but nonetheless was smirking. It had been far too long since she'd had a real, _skilled_ opposition to fight.

Drayea became slightly suspicious when Taylia's competitive-face became a confident leer and she folded her arms.

"Hey _Zapadno_, what say you we make this battle interesting?"

She smirked in return.

"What do you have in mind?"

"Care to show off your new and improved attacks?"

"Only if you do."

Smirk.

"Lets."

Both turned to their blades, determination now set in their features.

"Arseni, Vulcan Ravage Talon!"

"Gundula, Arctic Circle!"

"**ATTACK!!!!**"

A bird-like shriek could be heard as flames engulfed the Z-Armageddon, a squawking roar as a torrent of wind and ice swallowed up the Z-Scythe. Somewhere within the towering forms of the attacks, Mitsu and Riikka could make out a vague shape of each of their bit beasts watching from behind their walls.

Both beybladers charged at once with their blades; the force of the wind being dispelled by their attacks was all the proof they needed to see that their had-been weakest attacks were no longer so weak.

"YAHHHH!!"

* * *

From anywhere within a mile or so radius, depending on how close, one could hear the usual silence followed by an earth-shattering implosion.

At the place of the explosion, the two beybladers wearily got to their feet as did the bystanders. The force of the collision of Taylia's flaming hot attack and Drayea's below-freezing one had resulted in a blast of scorching hot air that blew them all back. As they looked to the demolished dish, the former smirked when the only blade shown spinning was a black, bronze and crimson one.

Drayea, upon seeing that she'd been beaten, merely scowled.

_Damn it._

All that training and still nothing.

Then again, that was just a pitiful little practice battle.

Rather than quench her competitive thirst, it only made it stronger.

* * *

**Yurii:** _I want LONG reviews this time, if you don't mind! –glare- I do this for YOU, people! –pouts-_

**POLL:**

**Who would you like to see the Four Winds fight first? **

**THE MAJESTICS**

BBA REVOLUTION

PBA ALL STARZ 


	4. Payback

**Changing Winds**

**Payback**

* * *

**Yurii:** _Yay! Chapter four! XD I'm loving this, I got reviews! WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! _

**And to answer all of your questions concerning Cyber Dranzer, my computer is being retarded and won't let me put it with the other profiles. **

**Damnit. –pout-**

**_Here are the poll results:_**

The Four Winds will face… 

**(drum roll) **

**BBA REVOLUTION**

_Thanks for voting:D_

* * *

"This meeting has been concluded. Court adjourned!"

"Huh?"

"We got this down?"

"Yep."

"Sweet."

Danica folded her arms and grinned at her teammate. Since they would eventually be facing the F-Dynasty to determine who would represent Western Europe, resident dragon had come up with a tag-team attack for her and Johnny to pull on them when they unleashed their infamous Fuerza Valiente.

"So, um… what are we gonna call it?" The Scot wondered aloud. "We have to have a name for it."

Danica paused in thought.

Sure, she was good at coming up with names for her pranks and 'missions', but attacks were a whole other category entirely.

The apocalypse is upon us; the almighty prankster Danica Arsenyev has been stumped!

The world fears.

"I got nothing."

Johnny raised an eyebrow and smirked as if ready to make a smartass comment, but she beat him to the punch.

"Shut up."

Sweatdrop.

"But I didn't say anything!"

Glare.

"Not yet you didn't. You were thinking it."

Raised eyebrow.

"… You're weird."

_Griiiiiiiiinnnnn._

"I know."

* * *

"So…."

Taylia, whose face was currently in a newspaper reading intently and slightly obscured by a pair of gold-rimmed reading glasses, showed a raised-eyebrow look indicating she was listening.

Riikka, who had spoken, leaned back in her chair, hands behind her head of disheveled bed-hair. They were currently in the kitchen having just woken up, and putting into consideration that the Finn being anything but a morning person, it was easy to tell she was still groggy and waking up.

"So _what_?" Taylia prodded, her eyes inclining from the Russian print up to her nocturnal teammate.

"Which teams are battling today? Mr. Dickenson sends you the listings, right?"

"That he does."

Taylia set down her newspaper and took off her reading glasses; it was a minor side-effect of her (first) mutation. Her eyes weren't very good when it came to fine print, i.e. newspapers and such.

When she was present, Drayea _loved_ to torment her and say she looked like that shrimpy brown-haired kid on the BBA Revolution.

Kenny something-or-other.

The only retort she had for it was that she didn't talk to her computer.

"We're going to get a rather _interesting_ performance today that I want all of us to watch closely. The Blitzkrieg Boys are going to face the Justice Five."

* * *

"Welcome back beyblade fans to Day 2 of the Preliminaries! Today's match is going to be one heck of a showdown; on either side of the field, we have two old rivals ready to get some revenge for last season!"

The crowd cheered in anticipation and screamed louder when DJ Jazzman appeared in the arena. Niina, who was sitting in Riikka's lap so she could see at her "sister's" eye-level, cheered along as well with her beyblade in one of her gloved hands.

"In this corner!" DJ gestured to his far left. "We have the veterans of the World Championships, ladies and gentlemen give it up for the Blitzkrieg Boys!!"

The two doors slid open, letting the sunlight stream in on the figures of the all-boys Russian team. Chanting up in the stands became much louder as they walked out into the stadium arena.

"And in **this** corner," DJ gestured to the opposite side of the field. "We have the returning rookie team, formerly known as BEGA, the Justice Five!"

Much to Taylia's amusement, all the Blitzkrieg Boys' fans started booing as they too stepped out into the ring. However, it vanished when she felt the waves of unreserved and complete _loathing_ radiating off of Riikka. It was easy enough to know why.

Garland.

The Justice Five team captain had his usual look of focus set in his features, but when he looked up to Mr. Dickenson's suite and caught sight of the Russian girls team, he smirked swaggeringly, earning a one-finger salute from Riikka and two from Drayea. Even Niina glowered down at him, following her sisters' example.

Taylia, deciding to put in her two bits, narrowed her tawny-crimson eyes at him threateningly with one of her trademark (and never-returned) looks of challenge that she reserved for 'special' occasions.

He recoiled visibly.

She leered when he looked away. So he _hadn't_ forgotten about her vicious little…heh… _demonstration_ in the lodge.

Smirk.

_Good. Looks like he's starting to learn where his place is. **Away** from my teammates._

It took no extra effort to see the two teams glowering heatedly at one another, but what she didn't see was that Bryan specifically was trying to glare a hole through Garland's head.

Riikka, who _had_ been watching the falcon, followed his gaze to the opposing team's captain, and then back to Bryan again who turned and met her eyes when he felt someone's gaze on him.

Neither Anniina nor any of her teammates saw the shy, self-conscious blush on her face.

* * *

Observing from up in the stands among the crowd, the Majestics were watching intently, none so much as Danica. She'd already waved at Ian to cheer him on, getting a cocky smirk and the thumbs-up from the shortest Blitzkrieg Boy as a somewhat reassuring answer.

However, aside from cheering on her partner in crime, she was also concentrated on seeing what some of her competition was capable of, and there were several people on her mental list that she was especially wary of and keeping a win-loss tally on; Garland, Kai, Tyson, Taylia, and Nadriya, to name a few.

For today, she would have to settle for watching the ex-Bladebreaker Hiwatari and the former captain of the BEGA team Tzebult. She scowled, remembering the match Garland and Tala fought; the one where the former literally beat the living daylights out of the latter and landed him in the hospital in a coma.

_What kind of beyblading wannabe does that asshole punk think he is? No real, honorable blader would do that to another._ She growled inwardly.

Her hands clenched, the newly-formed fist itching to slug him a good one in (or rather, much more satisfyingly, _through_) his smug face.

**Mistress, I think now would not be the wisest time to dwell on past events.** Kazic reminded her.

The dragon only narrowed her eyes and folded her arms disapprovingly.

She was fully aware of the Four Winds' presence in the stadium, and there wasn't a doubt in her mind that they were all hoping to see the Blitzkrieg Boys exact some much-wanted and much-needed revenge.

* * *

"Allllllrighty then, let's get down to round one! The first match will be the Justice Five's Mystel versus the Blitzkrieg Boys' Spencer!"

Taylia smirked when she glanced to her right past a cheering Niina and saw that a certain Japanese blader had moved a little closer to the edge of her seat.

_I should've known._

Smiiiiiiirrrrkkkk.

Apparently, Riikka noticed as well and returned the devious half-grin; she was plotting some payback.

That probably wouldn't end well for Mitsu.

Taylia made a mental note to barricade her door and turn up her music when they got home and the onslaught of merciless, embarrassing teasing and verbal (and possibly physical) jousting began.

_Cringe_.

Turning back to the arena, she just managed to catch when both teams' bladers launched their beyblades into the ring; it was a scaled-down version of Venice, Italy.

**An ideal course for two water types.** Arseni mused absent-mindedly.

Taylia looked over at Niina, who was trying to shout through the glass at Spencer to 'kick his fishie's butt outta the dish' or something along those lines.

Poseidon would be _so_ pissed if he could hear the fiery little girl.

"Hey, Chibi."

Niina turned to the Four Winds' captain with a look of questioning on her face.

"Alright, pop quiz; who has the advantage on this course?"

_It's actually Mystel; proportionally, Spencer's bit beast is twice its size, but because of it that means it can easily get caught in between the narrow canals and be left vulnerable to attacks._

Niina paused in thought, scowled, and then pointed grudgingly at Mystel. Taylia cocked an eyebrow, mildly impressed.

_So she **has** been studying. I'll have to figure out who taught her that when the matches are over._

Turning back to her teammates, she addressed them.

"Don't forget, we're also here to analyze the competition; keep an eye on the beyblades as well as the bladers themselves." She reminded them.

* * *

Drayea didn't even look up when her captain spoke to them; her frigid blue irises only moved to the corners of her eyes to indicate she was listening. She turned her attention back to the battle with a calculating stare, her arms folded sternly over her chest, looking very much like Tala doing so.

She knew from years of invaluable experience that if she could find out the staple part of an opponent blader's style and strengths, she could find a way to use it to her own advantage. It was one of her three specialties (the other two being medical knowledge and hand-to-hand combat), and she was _very_ good at it.

However…

Taylia was even better.

That was why she'd never been able to defeat her. The younger blader had somehow found a flaw in the elder's strategy and always waited until the opportune moment to use it and bring her down with one hard-core attack in an amazing display of flames… even while Drayea was making an attack of her own.

It was both impressive and infuriating at the same time.

Drayea narrowed her eyes.

_Damn it… I still can't figure out what's wrong with me! What did she figure out that I didn't??_

None of her teammates noticed their eldest's grip tighten on her folded arms; they were too focused on the battle. Spencer and Mystel were waging an all-out water war on one another, and it looked like the Russian was in for some rough sailing.

* * *

"OOH! That's going to hurt tomorrow ladies and gentlemen! And check it out, they're still going at it!"

The crowd continued cheering on their favorite team's blader; both of who were starting to tire. Mystel had the advantage because of Seaborg's lack of maneuverability, but Poseidon was no match for his attack power.

What's worse, the older of the two was getting impatient.

"Seaborg, Voda Impact!"

"Poseidon, Ocean Javelin!"

As a wall of water started to rise up and announce the arrival of the whale bit beast, Mystel's beyblade shot up into the air and took on a red aura the same color as the javelin of his attack.

It was practically a replay of Max versus Mystel.

It happened a little too fast for much of anyone to register, not even the bladers themselves; when the Ocean Javelin hit the wall of water, a screen of mist showered the entire inside of the stadium. Safe from the water behind the glass of Mr. Dickenson's suite, the Four Winds (Niina especially) watched and waited anxiously for the mist to clear.

Mitsu was on the edge of her seat and gripping the armrests.

However, the Japanese blader was able to let out a sigh of relief and sink heavily back into her chair when the mist cleared and showed a tie; the bladers looked little more than a bit scratched up.

* * *

**You are alright, Mistress?**

_I'm… fine. I guess I was kind of worried._

The lightning stallion, silently amused but serious, dared to venture further.

**You like him?**

At the question, the black-haired girl blushed furiously.

_What?? No! He's just a friend! What the **hell** gave you** that** idea??_

Raiuma's neighing laughter echoed in her head, making the embarrassed, flushed expression became frustrated.

**Just the fact that I can hear all your thoughts, and I've heard his name more than just a few times.**

_…Shut up._

**So, do you think he's good-looking?**

_I'm warning you…_

**Oh, and I've been meaning to ask this for a while; is he a good kisser?**

SNAP.

That would be the sound of her self-restraint and patience breaking in two and flying out the proverbial window.

**_YOU ASSHOLE BASTARD GLUEPOT! IF I COULD GET MY HANDS ON YOU I'D KILL YOU!!_**

The stallion's loud, infuriating laughter became more distant as he retreated to his domain in her beyblade, leaving a fuming and blushing blader in a state of confusion and mortified irritation.

* * *

"Round two!"

Taylia, looking down at the BEGA team's bench, scowled when Garland got up. Turning to Riikka, she wasn't the least bit surprised to see the Finn glaring hatefully at him.

"Riikka, you may want to take Anniina somewhere else for this match."

The gray-eyed Finnish blader turned to her captain, not fully understanding what she was getting at. Taylia, in turn, jerked her head in the direction of the Blitzkrieg Boys; the extremely pissed-off-looking falcon was going up against Garland.

"As strong a blader as we know Bryan is… well… I don't think Anniina will react very well to seeing Garland beat up her 'brother', even if he can take a hit." She explained softly, placing a slight emphasis on the word 'brother'. "You remember what he did to Tala last year, and that ended pretty badly, if you want to put it that lightly."

She needed no other convincing.

"C'mon Niina, I'm gonna show you where we're going to go tomorrow."

Buying into the distraction, the little girl followed her 'sister', intrigued by the prospect of seeing the areas open exclusively to the world class bladers.

As soon as the door closed and the two were out of hearing and seeing range of the match, Taylia turned back to the dish to see the countdown had begun and that the two bladers were tensed to launch.

"LET IT RIIIIIPP!!!"

As they did so, Taylia's focused look was rather contrary to the huge scheming mental grin she was sporting behind her otherwise calculating exterior. Her eyes were strained conscientiously on Garland, whom she'd noticed had kept his eyes on the suite windows as Riikka and Niina got up and left.

_I wonder if he knows just how hot-tempered our little Ice Princess really is…_

* * *

"And this is the Four Winds' lounge, the place where you'll get to watch us fighting in our battles with Mr. Dickenson tomorrow."

Anniina looked up at Riikka with a frown.

"Why do I hafta watch here? Can't I sit with you guys?" She asked with a sulking tone.

Riikka sighed.

"Sorry Niina, but until you become a member of a competing world-class beyblade team, you can't sit at the bench with us. Rules are rules." She explained.

"Awwww…."

The Finn ruffled her hair almost sympathetically; personally, she would rather have Anniina with them so she could watch their battles from the best seats in the house.

God knows how far she had to go to get to the level they were at, and unfortunately, she was aspiring to be just like Taylia.

_Oi…_

She had a _long_ way to go.

Riikka shook her head, annoyed by her own digression of thoughts.

_Stupid habit…_

"C'mon Niina, there's still more to see…"

* * *

Back above ground, Ian and Ming-Ming were going all-out even though it was only the first minute or so of the match, and it looked like the former of the two was only messing around. However, Taylia wasn't watching the match; her eyes were on the Justice Five team's bench.

She could easily see the shifty-looking glances Garland was casting around, and a moment later he got up and slipped out of sight to the exit that lead underground to the lockers and lounges.

Taylia herself started to get up, but hesitated. The phoenix turned her attention to the opposite side of the arena, where a defeated, pissed-off and bloodied Bryan had also noticed the Justice Five's captain's departure. He too stood up and walked out, though not quite as subtly.

She paused and thought a moment, then sat back down again.

_Maybe this time, I'll sit this one out._

* * *

"And these are the locker rooms; boys on the left, girls on the right. I doubt we'll be using these until after the match, if it's as hard as we're expecting."

Niina gave her a look of comical disbelief, as if she couldn't possibly think that there was a blader out there who could challenge her big sisters.

"What? There are better bladers than me and the Four Winds out there. Of course, Tai is a whole 'nother story."

The younger girl grinned, obviously proud of the fact that _she_ knew the all-mighty Four Winds, especially the captain. Riikka idly wondered how much bragging it would take to get it out of her system when they enrolled her in school.

_Lord._

She cringed thinking about it.

"I think we can start heading up again. Let's go."

Niina skipped out the door that Riikka held open, followed shortly by said Finn. What Riikka didn't notice that Taylia had with her encounter with Kai were the extra set of footsteps echoing down the hall.

* * *

_Why do I have the weird sensation like we're being followed?_

**You finally caught on?**

_…You KNEW?_

**I couldn't speak up when you're blocking me out.**

_Oh. Sorry. Can you tell who it is?_

"Well, well; fancy meeting you here."

Riikka cringed inwardly at the unwanted and familiar voice. The ram turned around slowly to glare at Garland, who was leaned against the wall behind her.

"Now my thoughts are cemented; you _do_ stalk me."

"Aw, don't be that way. Most girls would kill to be in your place."

_Gllaaaaaarrrrreeee._

"At least they'd put me out of my misery." She growled.

Niina, who had only been watching silently, suddenly decided that whoever this guy was, he wasn't someone her big sister liked. Of course, the string of German curses that followed was enough to make both of them stare.

**_Great._**_ Drayea's been teaching her how to **swear**. I'm going to kick her ass the next time I see her._

Garland, who apparently spoke German, looked both shocked and annoyed at once. However, the normally intimidating look wasn't enough to stop Riikka from stepping in the way when he advanced on the little brown-haired pest.

"Don't. Touch. My. Sister."

The look of surprise at the fact that she was standing up to him was almost comical, but the Finn wasn't laughing. **Nobody** picked on Niina, especially not some egocentric asshole who had nothing better to do than follow her around.

_Dammit…where's Taylia when you need her?_

She jabbed a finger into his chest, too pissed to really answer her own rhetorical question.

"Listen up Tzebult; you can talk as big as you want to me, but if you threaten Niina again, I will not hesitate to set Ukko on you, do I make myself clear?"

"Eh…"

"I **said** do I make myself clear?" She demanded.

Garland had no response; he simply held up his hands as a sign of surrender.

"Good."

She turned to leave, but was stopped by Garland grabbing her wrist.

"Hold on."

Riikka turned and glared at him, but didn't try to struggle; the last thing she needed was Anniina panicking.

_Go get help._ She mouthed to the little girl, who nodded only once before running down the halls and disappearing around a corner.

"Let me **go**, Tzebult." She growled; she was starting to get really tired of this guy's attitude.

"I don't think so, Riikka." He threw back, but in a dangerously calm tone.

This was one of those situations where Riikka would have traded anything to be as fast as Mitsu or at least able to draw as fast as Taylia; in an attempt to fight back, she made a move to grab her beyblade. However, Garland had the advantage in his size and strength- speed apparently was now added to the list.

Damn it, didn't she have _anything_ on this guy??

Riikka winced slightly when he shoved her forcefully against the wall, both her wrists secured and pinned. Try as she might, her struggling only seemed to make it worse.

"Fuck-dammit Garland let GO!"

The older blader didn't merit her swearing with a reply, at least not immediately.

"I tried to be nice the first few times, but since you decided to be rude I figure I'd return the favor."

There were two HUGE mistakes that Garland made next. The first one was when Riikka head-butt him in the face out of terrified instinct, and he backed up. The mistake of that was that her legs were free.

The second was when he released one wrist and pretty much sealed his fate; he struck her.

Riikka, looking more shocked and afraid than hurt, only looked at him before swinging her knee up with as much force as she could muster and landed a blow enough to make him keel over in pain.

(-cringe- You can imagine where she kneed him )

In the moment he was doubled over, she took the window of opportunity.

She ran.

* * *

_Don't stop running… if I get far enough away… he may not catch me…_

Even her thinking was interrupted by her intervals of breathing as she sprinted down the halls, turning corners randomly in the hopes of shaking the elder blader. Unfortunately, he was the faster and was slowly but surely gaining on her.

_Dammit Niina, where are you??_

Daring to look, she glanced behind her and caught a glimpse of Garland all the way down the hall, panic set in as she sharply turned a corner, then another.

As she passed down another corridor, she failed to notice another presence until her panic hit its peak when something grabbed her around the waist and brought her to a halt.

"Let me go, dammit!"

"Calm down, it's just me!"

**I recognize that voice all too well.**

Riikka looked up to her left; much to her relief, the slightly annoyed (and slightly concerned) voice belonged to Bryan. However, her face fell when she saw how bad of condition he was in; by the look of it, he'd only been a little better off than Tala in the previous year's match.

"I didn't ask for your help!" She spat.

At the moment, her adrenaline was moving as fast as her blade in overdrive and was pushing her pride up further than her common sense.

"Well, you're getting it anyway."

He released his full-arm grip on her waist, but as Garland came around the corner at the other end of the hall, he guided her sternly but gently behind him. She looked back, and around the other corner was Niina, who seemed more than just a little relieved to see she was okay.

Garland stopped, seeing that Riikka had apparently taken refuge behind his opponent.

_Glare._

"Kuznetsov. I never would have figured you to be the knight in shining armor type."

Bryan just folded his arms and scowled.

"And I wouldn't expect you to be the kind to raise a hand against a woman."

Garland narrowed his eyes at the taller blader. Damn him.

The Justice 5's captain stalked up to the Russian falcon, staring him straight in the eyes. Bryan was inwardly smirking at the three inches he had on Garland.

"This is none of your business, Kuznetsov." Garland threatened. "I suggest you back off."

He only received a glare.

Standing behind Bryan, Riikka only listened. For some reason, though the scenario was rather similar, it didn't feel like the same scene when Taylia had defended her from her father.

It felt strange to have Bryan protecting her, especially since he himself was already hurt.

"Fuck off, Tzebult."

Seeing that he wouldn't get the Russian to yield, he just scowled. Bryan turned, putting one hand on Riikka's shoulder but keeping himself between her and Garland.

What happened next, probably only Taylia would have caught; Garland advanced, most likely thinking he could overpower the injured falcon and get through. Whether or not he actually intended to hurt Riikka, Bryan didn't pause to ask- in the time it had taken the captain to lunge, his reflexes had kicked in and drove his fist into his face with astounding force.

Completing the move, Bryan's other hand came around and had Garland by the throat dangling a few inches above the ground.

"_Don't. Touch. Her."_ He hissed in Russian, knowing full well that the other blader could understand him. _"If you harm her again, you'd better pray there's someone up there that really likes you, because that's the only thing that'll keep me from killing you."_

He didn't bother giving Garland a moment to let it sink in; he simply released the blader, who hit the ground coughing.

This time, he didn't interfere as the two left. Niina came out from behind the wall and immediately latched on to Riikka's leg, upset. Riikka, temporarily forgetting what had happened, picked her up and tried to calm her down.

Bryan, starting to feel the weight of his wounds, sunk down against the wall, exhausted. When he stopped moving, the Finn became concerned.

"Bryan, are you okay?" Riikka asked worriedly. "Bryan!"

* * *

**Yurii:** _Sorry I took so long to update! I got tons of homework, and since one of my grades is slipping I can't go online!_


	5. Underdog

**Changing Winds**

**Underdog**

* * *

**Yurii:** _Hey! It's me again! Glad to see everybody liked chapter 4! _

_Please check out my Naruto story, **Code of the Samurai**! I wanna try and make it as big a success as this series was!_

**Shy-lil-me**_- _to answer your question about Mitsu's insult to Raiuma: way, WAY back in the day (like late 1800s-early 1900s back in the day), when a horse died they would be taken to a factory and manufactured into glue. Gruesome, yes, but that just made it so much more fitting to call Raiuma a gluepot XD

_Last thing: **if everyone who reads this could PLEASE leave a short review (long ones make me happy :D) I might be able to update faster!!**_

* * *

"Welcome back beyblade fans! Today's match is going to be one heck of a showdown between the World Champion team the BBA Revolution and the rookies of Russia, the Four Winds!" 

The crowd roared in anticipation, eager to get the matches on. Up in the box, the Majestics watched, just as interested to see what the all-girls team was made of. Danica was grinning to herself, smug in the fact that she could brag about facing one of them.

And winning.

_This will be interesting._

* * *

"Welcome back ladies and gents to the Beyblade World Championships! Facing off today, the BBA Revolution and the Four Winds take on the newly-created Sahara Desert dish!!" 

The crowd cheered in anticipation as the arena came up from under the floor in a burst of smoke, revealing a dish of a very close likeness to the Sahara Desert.

"Who's ready to see some action!!?"

* * *

Down at the benches, Mitsu was pacing back and forth, growing impatient. It wasn't so much that the matches hadn't started yet that bothered her, it was the fact that Taylia had decided to put Riikka in instead of her. 

_"Daichi's element is Earth, Lightning would be completely useless against those kinds of attacks. Even with your speed. As for Tyson…you'll want me to handle him."_

The Japanese-American blader scowled, knowing she was right.

But still….

Mitsu looked up into the stands at the cheering crowds.

_I can't prove my worth if I don't battle. I could have at least battled Hilary._

"Mitsu."

She turned irritably to her captain, who was sitting on the bench leaned against the wall with her arms folded sternly, completely calm as usual. Her eyes were narrowed, expression betraying serious focus.

"Sit down. You're going to give yourself an ulcer."

Beside her, Riikka almost winced at the icy-cold undertone. That was probably the scariest part about their captain; the unstable, frigid calm that set in before a major battle.

Usually, it could only mean one thing.

They, or rather, _Tyson_ was in for one **hell** of a firestorm.

Armageddon style.

"ALLLLL RIGHT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, LETS GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD!!!" DJ Jazzman shouted into the microphone; Taylia cringed slightly from the unnecessarily loud noise. "BLADERS, TO THE ARENA!!!"

"That would be your cue, Riikka."

The Finnish blader sighed as she stood up, stretching one arm across her chest in a lazy manner. Even despite the display, Taylia could read the tension in her posture like a book; it obviously wasn't just stage fright.

"Riikka."

She turned back to her captain.

"Bryan will be fine. It's not your fault."

Riikka's gray eyes softened; when Bryan had passed out in the halls after the run-in with Garland, Taylia had shown up only a little later having grown worried as to why they were taking so long. Neither of them had a phone on their person for which to call the stadium medics, so the aforementioned phoenix had wound up hauling the injured Blitzkrieg Boy to his feet, an arm over her shoulders, and leading both Niina and Riikka out of the maze of the halls out to the infirmary.

His injuries hadn't been life-threatening or even very serious for that matter, but she knew Riikka was still worried about him.

He had, after all, passed out from exerting too much effort after getting pummeled by Garland. And for that, she blamed herself for being the reason he had to.

"Go on. Your match is up, and try not to give away your good moves."

She received a weak smile in turn; a brave cover-up despite that she was accusing herself for what happened.

"You can do it."

That said, Riikka turned and walked up to the dish, her expression going from tired and worried to the subtle, confident face she put on to throw off her opponent; in this case, that crazy, loud brunette… Hilary something-or-other.

_This won't last long._ Taylia thought bitterly.

She knew from experience that male captains always took it easy on their female teammates, and it almost always lead to their performance suffering greatly in battle.

It wasn't any wonder she pushed her own team so hard in training.

There was so much potential there that simply went to waste because of stupid, ignorant chauvinism, and frankly, it _really_ pissed her off.

"BLADERS, TAKE YOUR STANCES!"

Riikka and Hilary both shifted into their blading stances; actually, they both looked very professional, eyes set ahead, expressions becoming focused and determined. _Uzhniy_ went tense, ready to let all hell loose.

"3, 2, 1, LET IT RIIIPP!!"

Both bladers shot their beyblades into the dish; Riikka's Z-Sonic shone proudly under the lights, gleaming metallic blue and gold.

Hilary's blade…

Yuck.

Orange and white.

As the two circled in the sand of the arena, Taylia immediately took notice of how slow Hilary's beyblade was spinning; either it had been a weak launch, or she was going to focus primarily on defense.

Well, if either was the case…

Riikka would finish this quickly.

Very quickly.

"Ukko, attack!"

The ram suddenly swerved out of its path into the center, zigzagging crazily to kick up dust and throw off her opponent's concentration. The orange blade, stopped in its tracks, didn't move.

"Dodge it!"

_Too late, kid._

"Finish this fast, Ukko!"

The blue beyblade responded to its opponent's movement by shooting the side where it was trying to get away, cutting off its retreat.

"HAH!"

Ukko Z-Sonic shot forward, smashing into Hilary's beyblade, drawing back only for a second to come back even harder.

Because of the lack of torque in the BBA Rev. girl's launch, the already apparent wobble in her blade brought it to the ground.

Easy.

"AND THE VICTORY FOR THE FIRST ROUND GOES TO RIIKKA OF THE FOUR WINDS!!!"

The Finnish ram didn't acknowledge the cheering crowd as her blade flew to her hand.

Taylia knew that look all too well.

She wasn't satisfied.

Glancing over at Drayea, she frowned.

Ever since they'd gotten back from their 5-month intermission, she'd felt the same thing emanating off of the elder girl, and it was starting to worry her.

The griffin in question stood lazily, seeing that her turn was up.

She always had this kind of calm, almost hazy demeanor before a big fight; whether it was to build up energy or ease her nerves, she really didn't know.

"Go get 'em, _Zapadno_!" Riikka put in cheerfully, covering up how disappointed she'd been with her own match.

Drayea didn't reply.

* * *

_This should be an interesting bout, that is, assuming this little monkey is as good as he claims to be._

**Pah. Gaia Dragoon has _nothing_** **on me, especially not after that kind of training.**

Drayea smirked inwardly.

In those five months of rigorous, hard-core training, Drayea had given Gundula's set of attacks and defense a serious, much-needed upgrade; even the former version of the mighty Tempest Scythe dwindled in comparison to what she was packing in her arsenal now.

Up at the dish, Drayea stopped in her place, her expression calm but cold; up on the display screen, she saw her eyes turn frigid.

Gundula was getting restless.

"HEY! YOU!"

Drayea raised an eyebrow at the rude outburst and 'I-challenge-you!' pose from the BBA Rev. blader.

"NOW I FINALLY GET TO SEE YOU BATTLE!!"

Her eyebrow went down again.

"Put your blade where your mouth is; I hope your game is as big as your talk is, little man." She replied, putting sarcastic emphasis on the blow to his height.

"Why you-!"

Both bladers took their stances, launchers loaded and taught.

"3, 2, 1, LET IT RIIIIPP!!!"

"GO GET 'ER, GAIA!"

"Gundula, evasive action!"

While Daichi's blade shot into the dish with the full intent on destroying its opponent, Drayea's remained in the middle of the scattered dunes, moving only as much as necessary to dodge the dragon's onslaught, a few inches at most.

"Hope you're ready, there's a storm a-brewing." She taunted.

Despite that she could perform most of these maneuvers blindfolded…

Her tactics were a little different this time.

She'd pulled an all-nighter working on a new beyblade part she'd designed and built herself; the prototype Mecha Gyroplane disc, the MG Ring for short.

Much to Gundula's amusement…

Today was going to be its test run.

_Smirk._

On the other side of the dish, Daichi was growing impatient and frustrated with the lack of results he was getting from his blade and reaction from his opponent.

"RRRRR… GAIA, ATTACK!"

The older blader remained completely composed as Gaia Dragoon swerved around the arena, coming back at her Z-Scythe in a zigzag, hoping to throw off her perception and land a hit.

Drayea shifted into a slightly wider stance, bracing herself lest something go wrong.

She breathed in, then let it out.

_Alright; here goes something._

"MG Ring: airfoils open!"

In the center of the dish, over the whirring of the gears of Drayea's beyblade a sharp group of clicks could be heard as the airfoils built into the ring snapped open, the air creating a whistling noise as it moved over the slots. As Gaia Dragoon got close enough…

"Dodge it!"

Just as fast as she'd shouted the command…

Gundula had vanished.

Daichi, confused and freaked out, looked left and right for the disappeared beyblade.

Even if it were like Tyson's old Vanishing Beyblade tactic, he still had no means of defending or countering.

"What the-?"

"Now attack!"

He realized too late as Gundula smashed into Gaia Dragoon from behind, mercilessly hammering it with attacks from whatever angles it could reach at that area in the dish. Judging by the now high-pitched whistling coming from the Z-Scythe, the airfoils had not only increased its moving speed, but the torque with which it was spinning.

"Retreat!"

Much to the surprise of the spectators, Gundula swerved away from its opponent at her command, going in a wide arc up the side of a dune.

_Smirk._

"Slingshot!"

However, as the Z-Scythe veered again in an arc and shot towards Gaia Dragoon, Daichi decided he was fed up with the Lame Duck gig.

"GAIA DRAGOON! GREAT CUTTER!"

_Jeez, does he have to shout everything?_

"Gundula, counterattack!"

A high-pitched war cry echoed through the stadium in unison with a roar as the two bit beasts decided to kick it up a notch. The Gaia Dragoon blade disappeared under the sand as Gundula picked up speed, a typhoon of subzero wind forming around it and getting stronger.

"ATTACK!!"

From out of the sand, the dragon blade appeared again spinning on its side, surrounded by a disc of yellow; the attack. On her side of the arena, Drayea remained completely calm, her eyes and attention focused on the swirling mass of wind, ice and sleet that had formed around the Z-Scythe and was freezing over every part of the ground it touched.

"Go!"

The blue and bronze blade shot forward at the command, picking up still more speed as it charged over the sand; the ice behind it was coming up in jagged spikes from the velocity the ice was being thrown back at, and around her beyblade was a kind of comet-tail of wind, ice and snow.

"GUNDULA, NOW!!"

What happened next even made Taylia stand up.

"COMPASS ROSE WEST WIND!!!"

Carved into the ice, a compass rose lit up with blue light; much to Daichi's misfortune, his beyblade was trapped in the middle.

From outside the compass rose, Gundula was circling its opponent at high speed, and the wind was starting to counteract with Gaia Dragoon's spin…

And lift it into the air.

"Eject!"

The circle of wind elevated to gale-force, and a moment later a streak of purple shot straight up out of the blizzard and smashed into the lighting above with amazing force, the impact creating a light show of sparks as they rained down on the bladers.

From the crowd and even the benches, all eyes were fixed on the arena; the wind had died away to reveal that the entire dish had been leveled, ice, sand and all.

Whirring in the center of all the mess was Gundula Z-Scythe.

"I see it but I don't believe it… AND THIS MATCH GOES TO THE FOUR WINDS!!!"

Drayea held out her hand, easily catching her beyblade; the airfoils clicked shut again as she pocketed it and turned coolly on her heel to return to her team bench.

* * *

The other Four Winds were silent for the first moment, stunned by the amazing improvement in their eldest teammate's already immense attack power. 

Drayea didn't even look up at them as she passed, except to make her eyes meet Taylia's.

It was that cold, dark look again.

**Heh. We can outdo her.**

_Be quiet, Arseni._

"Nice job. That was new." She offered a smirk.

Drayea gave a quiet 'hn' to acknowledge what she'd said and simply resumed her captain's position leaned against the wall.

"You're up."

Taylia returned the 'hn' and turned towards the dish.

_This should be good._

* * *

**Don't you think that was a bit cold, Drayea?**

Gundula received no reply from her mistress; seeing she was going to be ignored, the griffin retreated to the confines of her bit chip. On the outside, Drayea keep an eye on the arena attentively.

_Let's see what you can really do, Tai._

* * *

"BLADERS, GET READY!!!" 

Up at the almost completely demolished arena, Taylia shifted into her stance, staring ahead at her opponent.

He was smirking.

She knew that look all too well, and it was the main reason she strove to be so good.

He thought this was going to be an easy win.

_Snort._

She'd prove him wrong.

Brutally.

"3, 2, 1, LEEETTT IIIITTTTT RRRIIIIIPPP!!!"

Both bladers let loose their beyblades into the frozen sand-and-ice arena, Taylia zigzagging at high speed straight for Dragoon.

_Teach you to underestimate me._

"Attack."

* * *

No sooner had the Russian captain given her blade a command, the black, bronze and crimson blade swerved sharply to the right and smashed into Dragoon with astounding force; much to Taylia's satisfaction, Tyson's expression went from cocky and overconfident to surprised in no time flat. 

"No letting up!"

Before the dragon beyblade could regain balance, she charged in for another blow, knocking it into the air; only one more blow to the base as it fell knocked Dragoon clear out of the ring.

Game.

Set.

Match.

There was silence in the arena, doubled with looks of surprise, awe and disbelief.

"What the-?" Tyson started.

Taylia held out her hand to catch her beyblade.

"That's what makes me sick about you people." She hissed. "The fact that I'm a girl doesn't reflect that I'm weak like you all seem to think."

Taylia turned to the audience to glare at any bladers sitting in the crowds, raising a hand to point accusingly at the spectators.

"You hear me!? We are every bit as strong as you are, and if anyone out there disagrees you can get down here and fight me right now!" She shouted angrily. "Who thinks they can prove me wrong!?"

No challengers spoke up.

The Russian girl turned back to the World Champion.

"Shame. And here I thought that with someone of your status and blading spirit would actually take me seriously."

She turned so her back faced her would-be opponent.

"Oh, and Tyson?"

He looked up, still puzzled.

"If you ever want a real, serious rematch, look me up. I anticipate the challenge."

Tyson grinned in good spirits.

"You got it."

"THERE YOU HAVE IT BEYBLADE FANS, THE FOUR WINDS TAKE THEIR FIRST VICTORY!!"

Over the roar of the crowd, Taylia ushered her team back inside; however, she couldn't help but feel like Drayea was angry about something.

* * *

"UGH. Fuck-dammit, _why_ is it so hard to come up with combo names??" 

Danica let her head drop heavily onto her desk.

She had until the next day to come up with a name for hers and Johnny's tag-team attack, and so far she had nothing. Even hitting some of her favorite odd name-generator sites didn't help.

"ARGH!! WHAT THE FUCK DO I CALL AN OPPOSITE-ELEMENT COMBO ANYWAY!?!?"

She clamped her mouth shut, immediately aware she was shouting her thoughts out loud and had her arms in the air in an overly dramatic 'Noooooo!' pose.

"Fuck. I gotta stop doing that."

The dragon in question leaned back in her chair, her duck-slippered feet propped up on her desk and nibbled on the end of her pencil, tired, annoyed and growing impatient.

_I wonder if Ian is online._

She absent-mindedly pushed her mouse with her foot to turn off the screensaver.

_Sweetness._

**EvilGeniusDZA:**

**Greetings, my minion. Progress report?**

She received no reply for a moment.

**EvilGeniusDZA: **

**I didn't fucking infect the message, you dim-witted shithead.**

**Russian-Snake: **

**_Hag. And how was I to know this? I still haven't forgotten about when you rigged last month's envelope with a bomb. _**

**Russian-Snake: **

**_A fucking COTTAGE CHEESE bomb_._ Need I remind you what a week out of the container makes it _smell_ like? Ergh… that was cruel even by your standards._**

**EvilGeniusDZA: **

**XD Good times, good times.**

**Russian-Snake: **

**_Asshole. _**

**EvilGeniusDZA: **

**You wouldn't have me any other way. :) **

**Russian-Snake: **

**_-rolls eyes- _**

**EvilGeniusDZA: **

**Okay, this is gonna sound crazy, but I need your help with something. **

She waited a moment for a reply.

**EvilGeniusDZA: **

**Stop laughing, dickwad.** **T.T**

**Russian-Snake: **

**_What, and miss the only chance I may ever have at making fun of you at your own expense? _**

**Russian-Snake: **

**_Never! _**

**EvilGeniusDZA: **

**Asshole. XP **

**Russian-Snake: **

**_So I quote you, "you wouldn't have me any other way". _**

**EvilGeniusDZA: **

**If you think about it, I could; medium rare, maybe with a side order of SHRIMP. **

**EvilGeniusDZA: **

**-grin- :D**

**Russian-Snake: **

**_…. _**

**Russian-Snake: **

**_You have a sick, sick mind. _**

**EvilGeniusDZA: **

**And you don't? –smirk-**

**Russian-Snake: **

**_…touché. –sighs- Fine, what's the crisis? Somebody had better be dying or something._**

**EvilGeniusDZA: **

**As much as I'd like to say a certain former classmate of mine is… no. **

**EvilGeniusDZA: **

**I need a non-crap name for a fire-water element attack. I intend to wipe the floor with those F-Dynasty wannabe sissies.**

**Russian-Snake: **

**_You messaged me this late at night, 11 fucking 30 pm… For that._**

**EvilGeniusDZA: **

**Yeah, pretty much. :) **

**Russian-Snake:**

**_I hate you._**

**EvilGeniusDZA: **

**No you don't.** **XD**

**Russian-Snake: **

**_…Don't rub it in._**

* * *

Meanwhile, Taylia was also staring at the computer; she'd been exchanging emails with Kai for the past few days, and at that particular moment, she was debating whether or not he could be trusted with the information left on BIOVOLT. 

On one hand, there was the fact that he and his teammates were all victims of the hellhole called Balkov Abbey, and they had the right to know what their oppressors were up to, let alone that they were still running.

And on the other hand…

It was hers and Drayea's burden to bear; Boris and Voltaire were out of the way, and Alekzander was their problem, not anyone else's. If there was one thing she couldn't stand the thought of, it was someone else getting hurt at that Nelyubova bastard's hands.

_Shit._

A noise from her computer alerted her to the arrival of his reply.

**From:** hiwatari-kai (a)beybladetournament.bba  
**To:** russian-snow-child (a)beybladetournament.bba  
**Subject: **Re: Battle Today

'Well, that was disappointing to say the least. You were right, though; I'd expected a real fight from Tyson of all people. At least you won your match, so there's not too much to complain about.'

As always, a man of few words.

However, it was what he said next that worried her.

'Something's been bothering me since you came back, and even Dranzer has noticed; something about you is off.'

_Shit. He's onto me._

Her cursor hovered over the Reply button in thought.

_No._

Glancing at the clock, she stood up and looked back at the monitor.

_What he doesn't know can't hurt him._

The only problem was…

It could.

* * *

**Yurii:** _How was that for a comeback, eh:) Hope I didn't make it too cliché, but I had very limited time for which to get this done. I've been swamped with studying for final exams, homework and all that evil shit. _

**_Okay, since I got a lot of people asking for another pairing, I'm going a poll to figure out who the lucky guy will be put with the most popular Soviet Knight, Nadriya._ **

**POLL: **

**Who should be paired up with Nadriya? **

**Robert (He was surprisingly very popular)** **Rei ****Johnny ****Brooklyn ****(Insert non-OC character here)**

_Thanks, and don't forget to review!!_


	6. Reflection

**Changing Winds**

**Reflection**

* * *

**Yurii:** _Sorry about the crappy-ness of the last chapter. I really didn't have any more room or time to make a battle between Taylia and Tyson, but no worries. _

_It'll come. –smirk- _

_Anywho, I was disappointed by how few reviews I got; I want this fic to be as successful as the prequel was!_

**The poll winner is: BROOKLYN**

* * *

"Fuuuuuuckkk…." 

Danica glared accusingly at her beyblade, which was sitting innocently on her desk.

"This is all **your** fault."

It didn't reply.

_Pause._

"I'M NOT CRAZY!!"

_Twitch._

Groan.

**THUD.**

Her head hit the desk again; Danica idly wondered how many IQ points she had knocked off that way.

Still nothing.

_Dammit…I hate karma._

**_And karma hates you back._**

_Shut up, Kazic. You're not helping._

The dragon chuckled at his mistress' gloom.

"Gah… dammit, why does this have to be so hard??" She growled, scowling at her computer monitor where a typed list of (rather bad) attack names was listed.

"Fuck this."

Control-A…

Delete.

….

_Wait a sec._

"EUREKA!"

* * *

"OW! Fucking shit!" 

Taylia sighed and shook her head when from the kitchen came the sound of Riikka swearing violently first in Russian, then in Finnish.

"_Jumala kadotettu ei - hyvä kurata kelvoton löyhkäävä paikata-lta hasis…**naida**!_"

"Now, now, Riikka, be nice to the stove, it's the only reason there's anything edible in this house." Taylia called in, her tone lacking any form of concern.

She cocked an eyebrow at the raspberry blown at her from the kitchen.

"Real mature_, Uzhniy_…"

_Jeez._

Ever since their match against the BBA Revolution, Riikka had been free to worry about other things now that they had a victory under their belts, and it tended to bring out the slightly bipolar temper she normally kept fairly well hidden.

One guess what had her so tightly wound up.

Taylia smirked knowingly and folded her hands.

_Methinks the lady doth protest too much._

GRRRIIIINNNN.

_So, she actually does like Bryan. Interesting…and with Garland now 'competing' against him, this should prove to be very…heh…amusing._ She thought, subconsciously widening her grin at the thought of how the falcon might wreck horrible vengeance on his person.

**SMIRK.**

"Well, aren't you in a good mood today."

Taylia opened one eye to look up at Mitsu, who had braved the kitchen wielding a pot top for a shield in order to retrieve her chai from the microwave and had then joined her captain at the table.

"You might say that."

Mitsu smirked; she knew that look.

It was the 'I-know-something-you-don't-and-it's-really-good' look.

_Grin._

"Do tell."

* * *

"…Seriously?" 

"Yep."

…

_Smiiiirrrrrkkkkk._

"…what?"

"If I tell you, you have to swear not to get mad."

Taylia narrowed her eyes slightly.

"What did you do."

Mitsu put her hands up defensively.

"_I_ didn't do anything, okay? I was just a witness." She threw back. "I throw myself at the mercy of the court!"

Taylia rolled her eyes.

"Okay, fine; I promise not to get mad."

"Ya know when we told you how Tala and Bryan came by with Anniina while you were away on holiday?"

"…yeah."

"They didn't really go right back; it was practically a blizzard outside, so Drayea insisted that they stay here the night. However, so I quote Drayea, 'all the fucking doors were locked' and we kinda had to share; Tala in Drayea's room and Bryan in Anniina's." She smirked widely. "But you know already that Anniina likes to be told stories when she goes to bed…"

"And..?"

"For whatever reason, both Riikka and Bryan were in there when she fell asleep."

Mitsu's smirk became a full-on grin.

"You might say they looked very cozy on the couch… _together_."

Taylia was silent, her hands folded, deep in thought.

"Tai?"

"Hunh. Who'd of thought."

Mitsu raised an eyebrow.

"Care to elaborate?"

Much to her surprise, she smiled.

"It seems she's getting over _that_ event."

The younger girl's face fell in remembrance.

"Right, that."

Neither could blame their youngest teammate for her wariness of the opposite gender after her own father had tried to kill her and had taken her younger sister away from her.

The fact that she was starting to, if only subconsciously, put it behind her was a good sign.

Not just for them…

But for both her and Bryan.

None of them really knew a lot about the Blitzkrieg Boys, but Taylia and Drayea could make a pretty good presumption since they had both lived under the same kind of harsh governing; more or less, a militaristic dictatorship.

They, the victims, unfortunately, were the soldiers.

It took a trained eye to see it, namely, a BIOVOLT blader's eye, the kind of grueling endurance and tolerance a person had to go through to become as shut off from the rest of the world as they were. Just like they were made to be.

In layman's terms…

If he was anything like Kai had described him as, Riikka had to be something really special to get through to Bryan, of all people.

"You know, I think this would be good for them. Those two need each other more than I think either of them really know. Bryan to keep her safe, and Riikka to show him compassion."

* * *

Back inside the kitchen… 

It looked like a scaled-down version of a WWI no man's land… er, stove.

The kettle, the reason Riikka had been swearing, was now somehow lodged into the wall; the boiling hot water that had been spilled all over the floor was cooled now and covered with paper towels.

The blader in question was nowhere in sight; well, at least to her teammates.

Riikka silently got up from her place at the foot of the steps and walked upstairs to her room; knowing Taylia, she probably already knew she was there. Sticking around would be pointless.

Shutting the door behind her, she turned the lock with a click before leaning back heavily against it and letting herself slide to the ground, pulling her knees up and folding her arms on top, resting her head on top of them.

_Sigh._

Riikka already knew why she was so stressed out as of a few days ago; the only thing was, she couldn't figure it out until just that morning as to what caused it.

Or, rather…who.

_Bryan. _

She brought up one hand and ran it through her bangs, exasperated.

It was one thing to be worried about him; after all, he _had_ protected her from Garland. But the fact that she was so full of self-blame made it more troubling than it should be.

The Finn clenched her eyes shut and bit her lip, trying to force herself not to cry.

_I want to let go of it…_

Her fingers tightened, and she felt a few tears slip out even despite her best efforts to hold it in.

_I want to, but…I can't…_

Being in love hurt.

* * *

"Zimyatov, finish it!" 

The dragon gave a roar in reply as the wind already coursing around its blade picked up before smashing into its opponent; the blader, effected just as badly by the force of the attack, was thrown back by an unseen force into the far wall, her beyblade following not far behind, hitting the wall and shattering with the impact.

Nadriya glared down at her injured and now unconscious opponent; what was more frustrating than keeping her attacks sharp than having to fight amateurs was that Alekzander had brought up the idea of someone replacing her as team captain.

Someone stronger, more powerful…

Someone like Nadina.

Nadriya snorted with disgust, holding out her hand to snatch her beyblade out of the air when it returned to her.

The very idea pissed her off.

Reloading her launcher, she growled lowly in her throat.

Like _hell_ was she going to let that…_freak of nature_ take her place as the leader of the team.

**Scowl.**

"Having fun?"

"Shut up, Solongo."

The Mongolian wolf rolled her eyes sarcastically.

"Good to see you too, _sir._"

Nadriya turned to glare at her so-called teammate; her pupils had narrowed into reptilian-like slits, her jade eyes taking on a gold tint.

"Watch it, Choybalsan. There are plenty of other bladers in this place to replace you lest you decide you're suicidal." She hissed darkly. "It wouldn't take any effort whatsoever for me to _kill you_."

"I'm shaking in my boots."

_I **hate** her._

Solongo was generally very quiet, only speaking when necessary or, in this case, when in a particularly sour or cynical mood. To her credit, though, the Mongolian girl was one hell of a blader; she and Quidel were really a force to be reckoned with.

"And here I thought after that mishap with Lilja and Strelnikov that you actually _cared_ about us."

_Snap._

Again, with the self-restraint flying out the proverbial window.

Next thing the wolf knew, Nadriya's hand had clamped down in a vice grip on her throat, eyes resembling a snake's.

"_Never mention that bitch in my presence, or I'll rip your throat out._"

Solongo, despite that she was at the mercy of one of the most dangerous bladers in the Hermitage, remained calm and kept a solid, obsidian-eyed glare on her captain.

That was the main reason she was such a fantastic blader; even in the face of death, not even some of the toughest instructors could get her to crack. Isolation, grueling training courses, even a few bouts of torture, and no result.

She was everything BIOVOLT wanted in a beyblader.

"Too bad if you do, Nelyubova will have your ass thrown off the team." She snapped back. "Of course, that already seems to be happening."

Nadriya narrowed her eyes, tightening her grip slightly.

Of course, she behaved like a soldier in the presence of a superior, but to her fellow bladers, she had a vicious, acidic persona stored away just for them. After all, their entire lives were a battle of the survival of the strongest.

The blader named Solongo Choybalsan that they knew now was nothing like the one that had come in nearly 13 years ago.

Annoyed with dealing with her infuriating teammate, Nadriya released her with a shove backwards; she barely stumbled and rubbed the back of her neck slightly with an ice-cold glare.

"Hmph. Seems I was wrong."

The wolf turned to leave, seeing that her pissed-off captain wasn't going to listen to what she had come to tell her.

Nadriya glanced over her shoulder as the steel door slammed shut; looking back at the dish, she wasn't surprised to see that her opponent had woken up and fled, leaving behind the remains of her blade.

Taking her blader's stance and aiming at the dish, she glowered down the shooter's rack.

_I am **not** going to let her become captain, even if she **is** Rothstein's genetic copy._

* * *

_Dammit… what time is it?_

If the falcon's lack of an answer was any indication… early morning.

Great.

And to make things better, his head hurt like a bitch.

_Bastard Tzebult… didn't hit him hard enough._ He thought bitterly.

Bryan glanced irritably down the hall; a glow on the door indicated that the computer had been left on.

Stupid Kai and his nocturnal tendencies.

He smirked, entertained by the idea that he had been awake all night exchanging emails with his _–snort-_ 'girlfriend'.

Of course, when he got to the desk, he was slightly annoyed to find his curiosity piqued when a new message appeared.

It was from the Russian female captain, Strelnikov.

**From:** russian-snow-child (a)beybladetournament.bba  
**To:** hiwatari-kai (a)beybladetournament.bba  
**Subject: **Teammate  
Kai-

Still haven't heard back from you.

By the way, how's Bryan doing?

---

….that was odd. Why did _she_ want to know about _him_?

---

**From:** hiwatari-kai (a)beybladetournament.bba  
**To:** russian-snow-child (a)beybladetournament.bba  
**Subject: **Re: Teammate

Dare I ask why you care?

---

**From:** russian-snow-child (a)beybladetournament.bba  
**To:** hiwatari-kai (a)beybladetournament.bba  
**Subject: **Re: Re: Teammate

Don't be an asshole, Kai.

(Bryan smirked)

I'm asking for Riikka; ever since he passed out in the halls after that battle with Garland, she's been worried sick about him.

---

Rereading the line on the monitor several times, the falcon was quiet in thought.

Riikka was worried about him?

Ignoring the slight pain still lingering in his head, he trudged back down the halls as silently as one could trudge.

He needed some time to think.

* * *

_Okay. Let's do this thing._

"3, 2, 1, LET IT RIP!"

Whipping out her new and improved launcher, a weapon called a guisarme, Riikka spun it twice over her head to pick up momentum, then flung the front end down to launcher her beyblade into the dish.

The guisarme was basically a spear, around five feet long with a slender spearhead and a curved, bladed edge on the concave side.

It had taken weeks of training with Taylia to master the launch, what with it being almost as long as she was tall, but it proved to be far more effective and easier than her old meteor hammer launcher.

Not to mention that more than once she'd entertained the thought of shoving it up Garland's-

**Ahem.**

_Smirk._

"Ukko, go!"

The beyblade responded almost simultaneously, shooting forwards towards the line of targets –a series of poles stuck in the ground- that Riikka had set up not long before.

"Evade!"

Almost as it reached the first pole, the Z-Sonic darted left, then right in a zigzag around it, repeating the movements to weave through the poles with startling maneuverability. Riikka narrowed her eyes, focusing on her blade's movements.

The new, lighter weight disc she had put in her beyblade had dramatically increased her speed and already impressive maneuverability, but it took a little getting used to; it was like trying to push something that one thought was very heavy, only to find that it was far lighter than expected and stumbling with the unnecessary exertion.

"Now…SONIC BOOM!"

From the other side of the line of poles, Ukko remained where it was.

"Goddammit Ukko, _again??_"

**You need to concentrate entirely on the attack.** **I can't do anything if you're not focused, Riikka.** The ram bit beast reminded his frustrated mistress.

Riikka held up a hand irritably to catch her blade as it came to her hand.

"What do you mean, _if I'm not focused_?? I'm plenty focused, that's all I've been doing since we got here 4 hours ago!!" She argued back.

**I beg to differ.**

Riikka's face flushed a glorious shade of red, knowing full well what Ukko was referring to; that, and the fact that she was flustered enough to shout at her blade out loud.

"ARGH! You suck!"

"Having fun, Korpela?"

Normally, she wouldn't even have bothered looking back to see who'd spoken and bolted, since only one person ever regularly called her by surname; however, that wasn't the case. She recognized that voice all too well.

"BRYAN!"

If she weren't so glad to see him, she might have laughed at the very undignified, un-Blitzkrieg Boy 'oomph!' the Russian falcon made when she practically tackled him.

Her launcher lay forgotten in the snow.

* * *

_Ow…_

Not that he'd ever say it out loud, Bryan winced internally.

If the fact that he'd just been tackle-hugged was of any indication, he was going to guess she was happy to see him.

**She was worried about you, remember?**

_Right…_

He uneasily looked down at Riikka, who hadn't relinquished her tight grip on him, and the otherwise overjoyed look that had been on her face a moment ago had been replaced by one he couldn't read. If anything, he was vaguely reminded of the night they'd spent at the Four Winds' together.

Bryan remained motionless, unsure of what to do; sure, he was used to being followed around close to tirelessly by his own horde of (Ray-hating) fangirls, and he had a select few friends who he knew cared about his well-being, but this…this was a whole new territory.

The fact that _she_ cared about what happened to him was slightly unnerving from his lack of experience with girls. It was a new and awkward experience, and it showed.

That…

That, and there was the fact that some minute, unseen, subliminal part of him was terrified that he was going to hurt her in some way.

**I don't think you will…she's been nothing but kind to you, and she lives with Arseni's and Gundula's mistresses… Strelnikov and Rothstein…she may just understand your pain better than anyone else.**

He suddenly seemed to understand what that expression was.

* * *

Even if she looked completely self-possessed on the outside, Riikka couldn't help but wonder on the inside if she was really brave, really stupid or really pathetically lovesick. 

Without even thinking, she'd pretty much thrown herself at Bryan, while he was still hurt no less, and had received no reaction.

_Shit…please don't be mad…_

The notion was ruled out when he placed his hands awkwardly, albeit gently, on her shoulders, not pushing her away… more than not, pulling her in.

_That was…unexpected…_

She idly noted that he smelled nice…more masculine than Drayea's distinctly feminine sage and peppermint aroma.

It was comfortingly familiar… like wind in a forest.

Riikka was almost surprised when Bryan's hands slid around her back, seeming almost protective as he turned it into a full embrace.

_So, this is what it's about…_

She smiled to herself.

At least it wasn't one sided… it seemed that Taylia was right.

_Maybe I can let it go…for him._

* * *

**Yurii:** _CRAP, why is Bryan so hard to write?? I totally butchered his character, I know, I know T-T (sob) That, and the ending was so horrendously cheesy. _

_XP Meh… I hope it didn't suck too bad. Don't forget to review :D_


	7. Maverick

**Changing Winds**

**Maverick**

* * *

**Yurii:** _Yay! Everyone liked the Bryan/Riikka moments:D –is very happeh- Hopefully I'll be able to get in some more of Danica, since everyone seems to love her…same goes for Mitsu and Spencer._

* * *

"I am so fucking brilliant." 

"You are so fucking conceited."

"You're a fucking fuckface fucker fucking hypocrite. Fuck."

Johnny groaned, probably thinking something along the lines of 'what did I do to deserve this'. Seeing her teammate's exasperated look, Danica smirked widely.

The big day was finally here, and after almost giving herself an ulcer from raving obsessively over the name of their new attack, she'd finally come up with something.

Something that kicked fucking ass.

So to quote the evil genius herself, "worthy of Kazic and all his badass glory".

Yep.

She was definitely conceited.

And she admitted it.

Proudly.

"Well, come on, spill it. What's our new attack name?"

Danica looked over at Johnny from her desk, feet propped up and hands behind her head. Her smirk became a full-on grin, and he could have sworn he saw devil horns sprouting from her head.

"You'll just have to wait like everyone else…when we use it to blast those F-Dynasty brats to kingdom come."

* * *

"No." 

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"_No._"

"Pretty please with sugar and sprinkles and whipped cream and those nasty fake cherries on top?"

"For the last fucking time, **NO.**"

Mitsu groaned, refusing to be defeated so easily; however, Taylia's iron-clad wall of defense wasn't budging.

"I don't care if I have to lock you in the attic to keep you out of it; you are _not_ going to play matchmaker with Bryan and Riikka, especially not after that screw-up with Tala and Drayea."

"But why nooooot?" She whined.

When in doubt, the only really reliable tactic was to annoy Taylia into submission.

"_Because,_ Mitsu, they're already on thin ice. If you interfere it will break."

The Russian captain's otherwise stern look became sly with one of her devilish smirks.

"Besides, if you do…"

….

"…what are you up to, Strelnikov?"

_SMIRK._

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking… you wouldn't want you-know-who to know about you-know-what, now would you?"

Mitsu blinked a few times before her face flushed a bright shade of red that almost matched her shirt.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Oh, I think I would."

"…you wouldn't."

"Try me."

Mitsu spluttered, trying to find something to get her captain back, who by now had a wide, smug grin plastered on her face.

"ARGH!!"

Embarrassed, flustered and defeated, Mitsu stalked out of the room past Drayea, who paused a moment trying to register what had just happened.

"Mind elaborating on the you-know-who and you-know-what?" She inquired, arms crossed and an eyebrow raised, her interest piqued.

Taylia snickered and folded her hands.

"There weren't any."

* * *

"PLEASE, tell me already!" 

"Nuh-uh."

All day, Johnny had been trying to get Danica to crack and tell him what the name of Kazic and Salamulyon's attack was going to be.

No such luck.

Unfortunately for him and his curiosity, she wasn't showing any signs of breaking.

None.

"You'll see in a minute; our match should begin in 3….2….1…."

"WELCOME BACK BEYBLADING FANS!!!"

"See? What'd I tell ya?"

"Today we have a special match for you, a tag-team battle between the F-Dynasty twins…" DJ Jazzman gestured dramatically to the twins, who wore identical, confident smirks.

_Che. Fools. They don't know that a storm has rolled in._ Danica thought with a scheming grin.

"…and the Majestics!!"

The crowd roared as their own spotlight turned on, Danica striking a ridiculous, overdramatic pose as it did, making the audience laugh, just as it had been intended to do.

"BLADERS! To the dish!"

_Let's do this thing._

The two tag teams walked up to their places on the platforms as their arena came up from the floor, a replica of Munich, shifting into their blading stances and waiting for the countdown.

Danica, with her halberd, narrowed her eyes, the confident smirk becoming a focused glare. Hidden inside the shaft of her launcher, she could feel Kazic stir, impatient to be released.

"3, 2, 1, LET IT RIIIIIIPP!!!"

Heaving her launcher into the air, she spun it over her head before slinging the end down and shooting her beyblade into the dish alongside Salamulyon. Streams of wind trailed off the wings of her attack ring as it went careening into the center of the ring.

"ATTACK!"

While Johnny ordered his blade into battle, following the suit of Raul and Julia, Danica remained quiet in the center, waiting.

This was going to be one of her better works.

* * *

From up in the stands, Ian folded his arms and scoffed. 

"What the hell is she doing? You'd think that against those two amateurs, she'd be wiping the floor with them!"

His rhetorical question received no reply from any of his teammates; the snake turned back to the battle, staring down the dragon.

Either she was going to let Johnny finish them himself, or she had something planned.

Something big.

* * *

"Salamulyon, evade!" 

The crimson beyblade frantically zigzagged through alleyways and streets, trying to shake the twin blades that were hot in pursuit. Only a few minutes into the battle, and already they were ganging up on him.

Apparently, trying to take both of them on single-handedly wasn't such a great idea.

The blade's master looked towards his partner almost desperate, hoping to find some kind of help.

"Danica!"

Salamulyon shot past Kazic, which hadn't budged in the time the match had begun.

Torch Pegasus and Thunder Pegasus closed in, deciding to go for the sitting duck.

"KAZIC, WASH THEM OUT!"

The pitch of the whirring made by Kazic RT-Riptide picked up, becoming high-pitched as it started to rotate faster.

On the other side of the dish, seeing that they couldn't slow down, Raul and Julia exchanged looks before seeming to make a silent agreement; they were going to go for it.

"Torch Pegasus!"

"Thunder Pegasus!"

"**_GEMINI ATTACK!_**"

Smirk.

_Gotcha. _

"Neptune Ghetto Wave!!"

From behind Danica's blade, a wall of water began to form, drawing any moisture from the air into the attack. Overhead, attached to the ceiling, the emergency fire sprinklers burst, the water inside overwhelming it from the call the dragon was giving out. The Gemini Attack, already on a collision course with Danica's blade, valiantly charged in.

The audience, bladers and spectators alike, couldn't have expected what came next.

What might have been a blast of fire and lightning from Raul and Julia, normally a fierce attack from the duo, had been snuffed out like a candle. The blaze had charged head-on into the water; the flame had been doused immediately, but the electricity from Julia's blade shot through the water and struck Danica's blade.

However, rather than lose power or be knocked out, Kazic absorbed the shock before discharging it again to shoot Torch Pegasus out of the ring.

Johnny, whose blade had taken refuge from the wave on top of one of the model buildings, could do little else but watch as his partner prepared to finish off their other opponent.

"End this, Kazic!!"

An echoing roar could be heard over the rush of water as it subsided, dragging Thunder Pegasus in like a riptide towards the dragon.

"HAH!"

Kazic charged in, smashing into its opponent blade with as much force as it could muster, sending it flying out of the dish.

"And it's OVER ladies and gents! It seems the Majestics' Danica Arsenyev took out the F-Dynasty twins all on her own for a victory!"

The crowd roared, amazed by the display of power that Kazic and Danica had put out; even Ian was grinning.

Danica held out her hand to catch her blade, leaving behind a badly water-logged beystadium which now looked more like a sea than a city. Drying off her soaked blade with her sleeve as she and Johnny walked back to their bench, she slipped it back into its place, in the harness hidden within her vest.

**_The eye of the storm lingers over the battlefield._**

"Danica!"

The dragon blader let out a choked 'Ack!' as she was smothered by a hug from her amazed teammates.

Well, save for Robert. Him and his OCD with trying not to be 'uncouth'. Bastard.

"That was incredible! You've never used that one before!" Enrique babbled excitedly.

Danica smirked as she was released.

"There are many things I haven't shown you." She replied, sticking out her tongue to show off the silver stud stuck through it.

The look on their faces was absolutely priceless.

Johnny sighed, refraining from questioning her sanity…out loud.

"Well, now that the battle is over with, would you mind telling me what the big, bad attack name was?" He inquired.

At the question, Danica laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her head in a very anime-ish way.

"Eh, heh-heh. Yeah…about that… there kinda sorta never was one."

…

_3…2…1…_

"WHAT?!"

She grinned guiltily.

"I kinda fell asleep and didn't really think of a name; I was hoping I could come up with something when we used it, ya know, a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing." She replied sheepishly.

Johnny's face twitched slightly, probably debating with himself whether or not to maim his younger teammate.

"If it weren't for the fact that you'd probably kick my ass, I'd kill you right now."

"Gee, thanks."

* * *

"MOVING ON, fans! Since the Majestics and F-Dynasty only fought one round, we decided to treat you to something new! Turn your attention to the display screen!" 

Up on the scoreboard, four blanks appeared on either side, one half of them shuffling the profile pictures of bladers, the others their names.

Standing on the sidelines against the rail, the Four Winds watched in expectancy.

"We've asked all of our tournament bladers to attend today for this particular battle; the computer will randomly select four beybladers from the lot, and they will participate in a four-way battle!"

The crowds cheered in anticipation as the lights went out and the scoreboard shuffled even faster, too fast to track the names and faces.

"Contestant number one!"

The first profile and name slowed down until it stopped at a blader; Rick Anderson from the PPB All Starz.

"Contestant two!"

Again, the profile picture and name slowed until it stopped on the second blader. Spencer Dekanozov from the Blitzkrieg Boys.

"Contestant three!"

Drayea smirked hearing several sighs of relief from those who didn't want to go up when Mariah from the White Tigers X showed up in the third slot.

"Contestant four!"

Taylia glanced over at her Japanese-American teammate, who blanched slightly when her name and face appeared in the last space on the board.

"Bladers, come on down!"

A spotlight appeared on each of the bladers, and the crowds around them cheered as they headed down towards the arena. The soggy Munich had been replaced by a rather realistic downscale of Chicago, complete with alleyways, buildings and a number of other city-based obstacles.

As she stepped up onto her platform, Mitsu took the bun out of the back of her hair and tied it back in a short ponytail; she'd finally decided to cut it short, and now when down, at its longest it reached her chin. The back came up as far as the nape of her neck.

It would be much less of a hindrance this way when she was battling.

"Take your stances!"

Mitsu took her launcher off her back, glad to have traded in her much heavier glaive launcher for a naginata.

The others followed suit, pulling out their launchers, loading their blades and shifting into their stances.

"3, 2, 1, LET IT RIIIIIIPP!!!"

All four bladers let their blades loose into the stadium, weaving into the arena with relative ease; Mitsu's new HMS Z-Columbine, colored electric gold and red, disappeared into an alley, waiting to ambush an unsuspecting opponent.

* * *

Over on the opposite side of the arena, Spencer was keeping a careful eye on the Four Winds' blader, having noticed her beyblade disappear in wait for an attack. 

Her expression betrayed nothing, seeming almost absent-minded as she kept her gaze on one general point; he wasn't going to find her blade that way.

"Galux, retreat!"

Elsewhere within the battle, Mariah's blade shot into the maze of streets and alleys to escape Rick's Rock Bison; probably to stall for time to come up with a strategy.

"Raiuma, attack!"

The Chinese blader realized too late that she'd fallen into Mitsu's trap as the other girl's blade smashed into hers at high speed, ricocheting off of a nearby building only to strike it again, repeating the action with ruthless tempo and startling precision.

Well, it made perfect sense. Her bit beast was a horse, and her element was lightning.

_Of **course** she would be a speed type._ Spencer mentally berated himself for being so dense not to have thought of it before.

However, as fast as Mariah was, Mitsu's blade was pummeling Galux with speed attacks that far exceeded hers.

"Galux, counter!"

"Raiuma, take her out!"

The pink blade swerved sharply in an attempt at evading the stallion's onslaught, only to be knocked from behind by a streak of gold and crimson into another building, the impact causing it to become lodged into the wall.

"One down, two to go."

* * *

Turning her attention to Rick's blade, which was hovering apprehensively at the end of the street, Mitsu shifted into a low stance. 

A fighting stance.

Looking to Rock Bison's wielder, she narrowed her eyes.

The challenge.

Rick glowered back, taking the initiative when she gestured with one hand to bring it.

"Go, Rock Bison!!"

The yellow and bronze blade charged in, fully intent on slamming the stallion out of the arena, when its path was cut off by a blue beyblade.

Spencer's.

"Seaborg, attack!"

The Russian's blade shot in for the attack, the two clashing in a push-and-shove match of nothing but brute force. To the misfortune of the American, the whale was visibly overpowering the bison.

* * *

From the sideline, Mitsu stood back a moment to catch her breath and watch; it wasn't the battle that intrigued her, it was her opponent. 

Namely, Spencer.

Sure, maybe it was just because Rick was an opponent and the Russian's strategy was of waiting for the opportune moment to strike, but the way Seaborg had entered the fray, putting itself in front of Raiuma, it seemed almost…

Protective.

He could have waited for Rick's blade to strike hers and then charged in to knock them both out at once, but he didn't.

What was frustrating about it was that she was starting to question how she was going to finish this battle.

_Scowl._

"Raiuma, get in there!"

Finally riled up and rearing to go, the stallion joined the clash, hitting the center and knocking both blades away from one another.

"Kill the power!"

Mitsu's blade stood still, but the open chance to attack was gone when it started to fizz with electricity. The lights in the buildings flickered a moment, then went dead with a short buzzing noise.

In the middle of the darkened arena, Raiuma HMS Z-Columbine was lit up with an electric glow, the static visible as it crackled around it, branching off at anything that could conduct its current.

"Go!"

If it weren't for the glow, her blade might have been invisible as it shot at Rock Bison, moving at a speed neither blader had ever seen before, hammering the offending beyblade with blows.

Rick didn't even have time to look surprised when Raiuma drew back, only for Rock Bison to be knocked out of the arena by a vengeful Seaborg.

"We're down to the last two bladers! It's all up to Mitsu of the Four Winds and Spencer of the Blitzkrieg Boys!"

The two aforementioned bladers locked gazes, each offering their own challenge.

Mitsu smirked and shifted back into her fighting stance.

"Shall we?"

She received a smirk in reply.

"We shall."

"RAIUMA, ATTACK!"

"SEABORG, ATTACK!"

Both blades moved in for the attack, Mitsu's darting off to one side to rebound off of one of the building walls; Seaborg barely managed to dodge the attack, its master already aware of the onslaught of speed attacks she was getting ready to unleash.

Deciding to take the opening, Seaborg followed after Raiuma, but from a distance; the stallion had slowed to a suspiciously unhurried pace.

"Jumper Cable gear, activate!"

Mitsu's blade whirled around in a roughly-executed one-eighty to ram head-on into Spencer's blade, only to be knocked back to the end of the street.

However, she was smirking.

Mitsu's beyblade was built to be a featherweight, designed with intense speed in mind. However, because it was so lightweight, her defense suffered radically, as did the force of her attacks.

It was that factor that had led to the design of the Jumper Cable gear.

* * *

From the other side of the arena, Spencer warily kept an eye on Mitsu's blade, but it wasn't her blade that had taken damage. Seaborg's torque had slowed noticeably with that last hit, and Raiuma was crackling again. 

That gear had sapped power from the engine in his beyblade and had added it to her own.

_Very clever._

So, if he attacked, that meant he was going to lose more torque until it ceased to spin or she knocked it out.

**_So then our only hope is to make as few hits as possible, with the most force possible._**

It was all they had; with Mitsu's speed, it had to mean her beyblade was light, and stronger blows should knock it out of the ring.

"Again!"

Raiuma charged at Seaborg again, intent on another hit; this time, the larger beyblade managed to dodge as it sped past, swerving around again to deliver a crushing blow to the back.

_Yes!_

Same as before, Seaborg's torque had slowed down, this time to a dangerous pace to where it was beginning to wobble. Mitsu's blade wasn't in much better condition, but the energy it had taken from Spencer's blade was keeping it alive.

This was going to be an exciting match.

* * *

From their places on the sidelines, the other Four Winds watched as the two remaining bladers threw attack after attack at one another, the Russian starting to overpower Mitsu while she was holding her own by zapping still more power from his blade. 

Taylia closed her eyes, turning around to lean against the railing.

Riikka, who was standing next to her, looked over at her captain in question.

"Not interested to see how it turns out, huh?"

The Russian shook her head.

"It's predictable anyway. Mitsu can't possibly hope to overpower him, what with the difference in weight and size, but Spencer is losing power and won't last much longer. This match is as good as over." She replied, seeming almost bored.

Riikka turned back to the match, where Mitsu and Spencer had readied a final stand.

"RAIUMA!"

"SEABORG!"

Both blades charged one another head-on; this would be the end of the match.

* * *

The Z-Columbine and Seaborg HMS smashed into one another in the center of the ring, sparks flying as Raiuma was hurled out of the ring and Seaborg skidded to a halt on the ground. 

Mitsu's hand shot out to catch her blade out of the air while the others retrieved their beyblades from the arena.

"IT SEEMS WE HAVE A TIE!! GIVE IT UP FOR THESE FOUR, FANS!!"

The challengers exchanged handshakes as the crowd applauded, the two winners remaining behind.

"Nice match. You better not take it easy on me when we face you later on." Mitsu started, smirking good-naturedly.

"Likewise."

The spotlight came on again as the two shook hands, both anticipating when they would get to battle again.

From either one's perspective, it felt like a heavy weight had been lifted.

* * *

**Yurii:** _XD Bet you were all expecting a badass attack name, huh? _

_GOTCHA!!_

_Gonna have to cut this one a little shorter than the last few chapters. Hope it didn't suck too bad with all the beybattling and stuff!_


	8. Threats

**Changing Winds**

**Threats**

* * *

**Yurii:** _Okay, I'm going to try and balance out the attention certain couples are getting here, so try to be patient! I'm going to try and get Drayea/Tala and Nadriya/Brooklyn up to level with the others!_

_And since we haven't had any fluff in a while… Wahahaha…_

* * *

Night. 

The only thing colder than a Russian winter's day. At least, it was to most people.

To Taylia, it was the same as any other day or night. It snowed, and it was cold. There was no need to stress a few extra degrees on the thermometer.

Especially not when you were a fire type.

_Smirk._

"I hope there's a good reason for calling me out here this late at night, Ivanov."

"I seem to recall hearing you complain of insomnia. Do you really have anything better to do anyway?"

"Touché."

She rolled her eyes and leaned against the railing of the bridge; she'd received an email less than an hour ago from the redhead asking her to meet him there at half past eleven, saying that what he had to say really couldn't be conveyed properly unless in person.

Tala looked over at the younger captain, who stared back and raised an eyebrow to inquire.

"I'm probably wasting your time with this; if I sound stupid, by all means, go ahead and walk away."

Taylia folded her arms.

"Try me."

Tala sighed.

"I'm sure you recall the incident with Kai back in Switzerland a few months ago."

**Snort.**

"Hard to forget."

He couldn't help but smirk at her reaction.

"What does this have to do with what you're going to ask me?" She continued.

_Sigh._

"I'm sure your teammates also told you about when Bryan and I brought you Anniina."

Deciding to go along, she turned her attention to the river over the other railing.

"They did."

He folded his hands and sighed.

"How much did they say?"

"Mitsu was the one to crack. It got as far as that you spent the night…" Taylia smirked widely. "And that apparently a certain two teammates of ours rather like each other."

At that, Tala looked up.

"Well, that's…new. Although it does explain why Bryan's been so moody lately."

Taylia raised an eyebrow.

"Well, _moodier._ Back on track… I don't suppose she told you about the power outage?"

At the last two words, Taylia's appearance became worried and she looked over at Tala seeming almost alarmed.

"There was a power outage?"

She paused, her expression giving the sense that she was considering all kinds of worst-case scenarios.

"What happened?" She asked darkly.

"If it's Drayea you're worried about, she was fine. A little freaked out, but otherwise fine." He admitted. "I found her in the library at the piano and stayed up with her until she fell asleep."

The younger Russian breathed a sigh of relief, forming a cloud in front of her.

"Good."

There was a long, empty pause as the two remained silent a moment; snow had begun to fall, and the moon hung high up in the darkened sky.

"If I know Mitsu…" Taylia broke the silence awkwardly.

Tala glanced over at her.

"She probably got up early to check on everyone, right?"

Much to her surprise, he averted his eyes from hers.

"Uh, kind of."

She slapped her forehead, catching the elusive hint in his tone.

"Aw, fuck. What the crap did she do?"

Tala blushed, unsure of how to phrase it.

"Let's just call it a prank gone horribly wrong."

Again, another pause, but this time shorter than the first as Taylia registered what he'd meant. Something Mitsu had said clicked in her head, and it suddenly made sense.

"Ah, I see. Girl troubles." She thought aloud, trying to refrain from smirking knowingly.

"Something to that effect."

* * *

He stood upright from his place leaned against the bridge to look at Taylia, who hadn't yet caught on. 

"I had to ask about the first incident for a reason." He paused, probably thinking about how to word his next statement. "How should I put this… I guess I'm indecisive."

Taylia's reaction was surprisingly understanding; he'd half been expecting to either 1) get slugged a good one in the face for such a useless question, or 2) have an angry or embarrassed phoenix trying to flambé him.

"…I see…"

She stood up, putting one hand in her pocket.

"Well, there's only one way to find out."

She gestured with her free hand for him to come over; he did so, starting to catch on.

"It's only fair to warn you in advance; my loyalties lie with Kai."

He smirked.

"I'd have figured as much. Two phoenixes."

Taylia grabbed the collar of his jacket and jerked him down to her eye level, staring him straight in the eyes.

"Word of this gets out to anyone, you're dead."

"Aye-aye, captain."

* * *

Taylia released his jacket, her otherwise threatening expression softening to look almost sultry and taking her hand out of her pocket. Tala leaned down to her, his hands on her arms, stopping before going the whole way and letting her close the gap. 

She was letting him do this, there was no need to push it.

_Heh…_

If Kai ever caught wind of this, he was as good as dead.

* * *

Needless to say, Taylia was mildly surprised when Tala ran his tongue over her lips, seeking entrance. 

_You're in charge here. He tries anything funny, you can kick that bastard into orbit._

Almost shyly, she granted him the access he sought, gasping involuntarily when he took it. One of Tala's hands had at one point moved to her back, always careful not to push it too far; out of habit from being with Kai, hers were rested on his chest if the need to push him away should arise.

It didn't look like it.

Deciding to test the waters a little further, she took the initiative and started to return the gesture, smirking inwardly when he forced down a groan.

The two eventually had to break apart from their 'battle', both panting slightly.

"Nothing?"

Tala shook his head, but rather than looking sad, he appeared relieved.

"No."

He let go of her, Taylia doing the same, covering up her slight embarrassment by casually tucking her hair behind her ear and looking away.

"Just a word of advice if you decide to go after Drayea…" She started, still apprehensive. "She's been through a lot more than even most BIOVOLT bladers can relate to. You somehow have started to get through to her, but don't expect her to return the favor if you open your heart to her."

The embarrassed look switched just as fast as before back to the intimidating one, the kind a predator used to stare down its prey.

"I don't want Drayea to have to go through what I lived most of my life having to endure. I find out you've done anything, _anything_ to hurt her, I'll kill you so bad even your own bit beast won't recognize you. Do I make myself clear?"

If it weren't for the slight flush on her face, even he wouldn't have guessed that they'd been kissing a moment ago.

"Crystal."

She smirked.

"Alright then."

Taylia turned to leave, very much resembling Kai in the way her braid trailed behind her.

"Oh, by the way Tala."

"Hm?"

She turned around, and in that moment, he saw in her what Kai saw in her.

With probably the most sincere, award-winning smile he'd ever seen, she raised a hand.

"Good luck."

* * *

**_Well. That was…unexpected._**

_Shut up, Arseni._

Taylia felt her face heat up a bit as she took off her parka and boots, tapping off the snow onto the floor near the heater.

Admittedly, it had been a rather…_interesting_ experience, but she'd learned all of what she had wanted to know.

The phoenix casually tossed her jacket onto her desk chair, not bothering to check her email before going to bed. Even though she wasn't remotely tired, all she really wanted was to lie down.

**_Do you really think he's right for Drayea?_**

Her face became thoughtful as she pulled on a sweater, her normal sleeping attire.

There were so many factors to consider; she did have to give him credit for a few things though, variables that were frustratingly hard to find in a man.

For one thing, he was gentle. Drayea, of all people, needed that the most; Taylia herself knew, almost no one growing up under the watchful eyes of BIOVOLT knew the tenderness of someone that truly cared about them. She had suffered the worst, being used only as a lab experiment or a plaything.

On another observation, she had noted that he paid careful attention to her body language, from when they began to when they broke apart. Just the fact that Taylia knew firsthand how hard to find that was earned Tala a higher score.

She put her hands behind her head, staring up at the moonlight glow on the ceiling dotted with the silhouettes of snowflakes floating down in front of the window.

_I really hope so._

* * *

Under the same moon, another presence was just as restless as the phoenix. 

Alekzander Nelyubova narrowed his eyes and stared out the window, both impatient and aggravated.

There was a lot more on his mind than he would have liked, and it was greatly annoying.

The world tournament was progressing, and he couldn't afford any slip-ups or weak links. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case.

"You wanted to see me, sir."

He stood upright again, not bothering to look back at his subordinate but settling to watch her reflection in the window.

"I think you know why you're here, Nadriya."

The dragon stiffened, but kept up the soldier-like posture and stern expression.

"Don't get any ideas, I'm not taking you from the position of captain…yet." He growled, folding his arms. "There's something else we haven't addressed yet, and I think you know what it is."

There was a tense pause; in the window, he caught her expression becoming almost fearful. She did know what he meant.

"I'm afraid I don't follow, sir."

At that, Alekzander turned around, glaring menacingly at his soldier.

"You're not stupid, so don't act like it. Your performance has been suffering in the arena, and I don't like it."

Nadriya was still.

"I train as often if more than you ask of me, sir." She replied apathetically.

"Training isn't the problem, it's the fact that you're becoming defiant."

He turned to pace to his desk, pushing a button on the control panel; from the ceiling, a screen came down, and another push of a button on the laptop next to it brought up a clip of her battle against Rei.

"Your beyblading hasn't changed, it's you." He hissed, pausing the clip where she had gone in for an attack. "Right here, for instance. You hesitated when you could have ended the match, and later on in the battle you were foolish enough to use one of your attacks."

He turned off the monitor and turned back to the blader standing behind him.

"Tomorrow, we face the Justice Five, former bladers of the BIOVOLT branch you may remember as BEGA. If I see that you so much as hesitate to take out your opponent, you will be disowned by the team. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. Now get out of my office."

The dragon blader turned and calmly walked out, the door clicking shut behind her. Sitting down at his desk, the BIOVOLT chairman growled and replayed the clip of Nadriya attacking the White Tigers X blader.

She was starting to think for herself too much, and that was a problem.

The only real threat to the Soviet Knights taking the championship was the Four Winds, and possibly the current World Champion, Tyson.

He narrowed his eyes.

_Strelnikov._

The Russian phoenix. He smirked nostalgically, remembering when he had bonded a two-winged Arseni to a hawk, a lightning-type called Kruzhnev. He had thoroughly enjoyed seeing those blue eyes turn avian, crimson-gold and full of suffering. Even now, they still burned with a furious hunger for vengeance.

Admittedly, as much as he abhorred the former subordinate, she had been one of their finest bladers. However, her free will had gotten the better of her and overpowered that seemingly unbreakable human obedience that every soldier had been hardwired to follow without question.

The smirk became a scowl.

It was her, he suspected, that was causing Nadriya to question what they were doing.

_No matter._

He'd change that.

Permanently.

* * *

"UP! Everybody wake the fuck up, c'mon, **hup-hup-hup**!!" 

From any one of the four doors that were being so rudely pounded –er, knocked on and shouted through in Serbian, curses in several languages could be heard, one with a thick Scottish accent that was shortly followed by splashing, then a girlish scream that rivaled or quite possibly even shamed female vocal chords.

"JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, what was that for??"

Danica put a hand on her hip, the other occupied by a bucket that had moments ago emptied a gallon or so of ice water onto her teammate's head.

"No reason. I just always wanted to do that, and now that you're up…**We. Are. TRAINING.**"

Johnny stood up wearily, several ice cubes falling off the sheets as he did so, too sleepy to try and kill the shorter Majestic.

"It's six in the fucking morning, and you're not the bloody captain." He grumbled as he wrung out his bandana, which had somehow come under the dragon's wake-up call's onslaught.

Danica narrowed her eyes, the otherwise cheerful expression becoming frighteningly serious.

"After yesterday, you should have been the first person up and at 'em. I'm not gonna save your ass again, you lazy sod!"

He blinked a few times, still halfway asleep.

"You. Downstairs. Ten minutes."

Danica marched out of Johnny's room, the Scot coming to the doorway where the other Majestics were emerging themselves, still rubbing the sleep from their eyes and grumbling in their respective languages.

"Remind me again why we listen to her?" He groaned.

Even Robert shook his head.

"For one, she's our best blader. She's right though, the only reason we've gotten this far is because of Danica."

There was a short pause before he continued.

"Besides… we have to forgive her habit. We all know what she went through to get to where she is."

What might have been a moment of understanding was shattered when the blader in question shouted up the stairs.

"FIVE MINUTES!"

_Sigh._

"When she gets us up this early, it's really hard to." Johnny whined.

"I know."

* * *

"Ukko, attack!" 

"Gundula, stand your ground!"

Riikka narrowed her eyes and grit her teeth as her beyblade darted away from Drayea's, trying to gain enough momentum to land a hit…or rather, a hit with effect.

"ARGH!! Dammit Drayea, why did you make Gundula so freaking _heavy_??" She griped as Ukko landed blow after blow, but with little to no effect. The griffin's blade remained stationary, refusing to give up its place in the center of their arena.

The elder smirked and folded her arms.

"C'mon Ika, you should've at least figured it out by now that Gundula is a heavy attack type. Fast as Ukko is, you've got nothing against me." She replied smugly.

The younger's eyebrow twitched impatiently.

"Now come on, if you ever plan to face Garland and stay in the dish, you'll have to try harder than that."

Riikka would have shot back with an indignant 'I'm trying as hard as I can!', but they were interrupted when Taylia opened the front door and motioned for them to come inside.

The battle had begun.

* * *

"Zimyatov, нападки!" (**Napadki- Attack**) 

The temperature of the air surrounding the arena plunged as the wind-and-ice dragon charged in at Brooklyn's blade for the attack, its mistress growing tired of playing games.

It wasn't so much the fact that he was a difficult opponent that made Nadriya so fiercely determined to win, it was the fact that her position as captain as well as her being on the team was on the line.

However…

He was proving to be just as difficult an opponent to beat as he had been in the previous year's tournament.

Zeus merely swerved out of the way of the dragon's attacks, making it seem almost effortless. Nadriya glowered across the arena at her opponent, who was smiling.

Damn him…

It was that smile that was throwing her off… she knew it was also that her anger made her technique suffer, but it was his damned smile that was making her angry.

"What are you so happy about??" She spat.

Brooklyn's grin softened.

"You're really a good person on the inside." He replied, sounding as carefree as he looked.

Her pissed-off expression took on a hint of confusion.

"What the hell are you talking about??"

_Smile._

"That's **it!** I've had it with you!"

Nadriya turned her gaze back down to her blade, which was spinning in the center of a frozen wasteland; the result of her efforts.

"Zimyatov, end this! **Nor'easter Cleaver!!**"

An echoing roar sounded from the Russian's blade as the wind picked up to gale force, throwing blades of wind in every direction; Nadriya put her arms up, her only defense against the effects of her Heavy Offense attack.

"Zeus, counter it!"

Somewhere within the blizzard, the axe fell on one of the beyblades as the two bit beasts let loose their attacks; from out of the kicked up snow and dust, an obsidian black blade was thrown from the arena, its master following with a heavy 'THUD' to the ground.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I don't believe my eyes… THIS ROUND GOES TO BROOKLYN OF THE JUSTICE FIVE!!!"

Ignoring the amazement emanating off the crowd, the deafening applause went unheard by Nadriya as she shakily picked up her blade, stunned.

She'd lost.

Nadriya looked up to her team, who either replied with a glare or averted their eyes, all of them seeming more than angry. However, it wasn't what they might do that she was afraid of.

It was Alekzander.

* * *

"I don't believe it…" 

"You and me both, _Vostoshniy._"

Mitsu rubbed her eyes in incredulity as Drayea pressed the Play button for probably the fifth time and the battle between Brooklyn and Nadriya replayed itself.

Not only had someone defeated a Soviet Knight, but they had taken out the captain, _the_ Nadriya V. Rzhyov, the Kamikaze of the Hermitage and Armageddon's opposite extreme.

Riikka was too amazed to complain about Garland's lack of appearance to study his style.

However, as of that moment, Taylia wasn't there with them. She'd gone out several hours ago in full gear (i.e. beyblade and launcher, parka, and armored boots and gloves) saying there was something important she had to check on, and had then disappeared into the forest on foot.

It was growing late, and she still hadn't returned.

They were beginning to wonder whether or not she would return within the night, but the possibility was ruled out when they heard the front door being kicked open.

"Taylia?"

The three practically ran to the banister at the top of the steps to greet or berate their captain, but anything any of them might have had to say died on their tongues.

"Jesus Christ… what happened??"

The phoenix standing in the doorway was splattered with blood from head to foot, snow and mud caked on her boots and splashed up onto her pants legs. There were tears in the sleeves of her parka, and the disheveled appearance of her clothing and hair gave all of them an impression they didn't want to think about.

"Oh my god… I'm calling an ambulance…"

Riikka turned to find a phone, but was cut off by her captain.

"Not for me." Taylia shouted up the stairs, sounding more urgent than desperate. "Drayea, Mitsu, I need your help with something."

She turned and jogged back out the door, the other Four Winds following her.

"Easy now… don't let go…"

Still up at the top of the stairs, Riikka's eyes widened as she covered her mouth with one hand to muffle a gasp when her teammates carefully brought in a bleeding, beaten but weakly struggling figure.

"Call an ambulance… I don't think she can last much longer." Taylia commanded, the Finn complying immediately and disappearing from her place to follow it.

* * *

"Gently, gently… Mitsu, get the first aid kit." 

The East Wind blader did so as Riikka returned from the kitchen.

"They'll be here soon." She informed her captain.

"Good."

The younger blader watched as her two elders placed their injured 'guest' face down on the couch, who by now was so close to unconsciousness that her only defiance was a weak protest of '_nyet, nyet, nyet_'.

"I should have known this was going to happen…" Taylia growled, taking the first aid kit from Mitsu. "Lights."

Riikka switched on the lights, bringing their subject into clear view.

"Nadriya…" Drayea breathed.

Taylia narrowed her eyes, not at the former Soviet Knight, but in anger.

The dragon's entire back side was torn and mangled from the lash of a whip (she didn't doubt a knife or shard of glass was involved somewhere in their as well), from the base of her neck to her ankles; no doubt Alekzander had intended to kill her just in the dungeon.

Somehow, she had managed to hold on long enough to survive the beating, only to be thrown out into the snow to either be followed by the wolves until she could no longer move, or to be taken by the cold.

She was lucky… Taylia had predicted that the battle would end badly, and it saved her life.

At least… for now it is.

"We're not out of the woods yet," She reminded her team as she started to clean the seemingly countless wounds, Drayea restraining her from thrashing around from the sting of being touched. "She's lost a lot of blood, and is going to need god-knows how much surgery; the best we can do now is keep her conscious and try to slow the bleeding."

The other Four Winds nodded; even if they didn't particularly like the Soviet Knights' former captain, they all knew Taylia was going to do whatever was necessary to save the life of a comrade.

"Riikka, go into my room and find a T-shirt; we don't have nearly enough bandages for this. Mitsu, find me a needle and some fishing line and bring one of the maids down here; her best chance at survival is if we can stitch up some of these wounds, even if it's just temporary. Drayea, I need you to stay here and keep Nadriya still."

The others did as they were told, sprinting off to find what they'd been commanded to get; Taylia turned back to the task at hand, wincing visibly for the injured blader as she continued to clean up as much of the blood and dirt as she could.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

**Yurii:** _Hey! Hope this chapter didn't suck as badly as the one before…_

**POLL: **

**I want to change my pen name to Yurii Konstantinov; should I do it?**

HELL YES! 

**FUCK NO!**

_Don't forget to review!_


	9. Recovery

**Changing Winds **

**Recovery**

* * *

**Yurii:** _I was really disappointed by how few reviews I got last chapter. Come on, people! Do you think I write this stuff just so _**I**_ can read it later on? _

_Anyway, thank you to those of you who did leave me a review!!_

_I'm rather proud of my last chapter. Hopefully this one won't be too bad either. REVIEW!_

* * *

"How is she?" 

The doctor sighed and ran a hand through her decidedly thinning hair; nearly ten hours in the emergency room under the knife, and there had been no word from the frantic doctors on the critically injured dragon's condition.

Taylia had the sinking feeling that Lilja would eventually follow.

"Not so well… she's still in very unsteady condition, and stitching her up will only do so much. We'll have to keep her in the ICU until she stabilizes and can be taken off life support." She replied.

**(ICU- Intensive Care Unit)**

"I see…"

The old woman gazed sternly at the blader, at her teammates behind her, then back again.

"What happened to have put her in such a state?"

Taylia looked up to meet her gaze, the expression on her face pained, but her eyes were burning with wrath.

The doctor didn't have to know her to know someone was going to pay for this.

_Dearly._

"I honestly don't know." She replied, folding her arms. "But I intend to find out."

The doctor just shook her head and walked away, muttering something about crazy kids.

Close by, the other Four Winds looked to their captain, who resumed her pacing; when the ambulance had arrived, Nadriya's breathing and heart rate had slowed to a dangerously low beat, and on the ride over had been nerve-racking.

Admittedly, Taylia had never liked Nadriya; hated her even, but she did know from a few chance experiences including the night with Lilja that she still had some kind of hold on her true self, and it was for that single reason she still had a tiny shred of respect for her.

Besides…

Like _fuck_ was she going to stand around and watch as that scumbag son of a bitch Alekzander took –or in Nadriya's case, try to take- another life when she had something to say about it, archrival or not.

Any blow against BIOVOLT was worth the effort.

"_Syeverniy._"

The phoenix looked back over her shoulder at Drayea, who had spoken, surprisingly in Russian rather than German.

"_Da?_" **(Yes?)**

"_Tam bit nichto k bit sdelanniy teler tolko zhdat_." **(There is nothing to be done now but wait.)**

"_Ya znat._" **(I know.)**

Drayea stood up, switching back to her usual German, the language their team most often used with one another.

"I'm going to head back; are you going to come or should I expect you back when the hospital kicks you out?" She asked, a hint of humor in her tone at the last phrase, trying to lighten the mood.

"I'll stay here. If Alekzander knows Nadriya is still alive, there's a chance he may try to finish the job so word of the Hermitage doesn't reach anyone of influence."

She nodded in understanding.

"I take it that means you're armed, then?" She asked quietly, lest someone else hear.

Taylia merely patted her pocket, but didn't bring up any mention as to what the type of weapon was.

Having been only watching since Taylia had managed to drag a struggling Nadriya into the house, Riikka finally spoke up.

"Tai, as ignorant and retarded as this may sound, but how can you still care after all the crap she and her team have put us and the other teams through? I mean, just two weeks ago she beat the shit out of Ray, and before that she and the other Soviet Knights attacked us in Switzerland!" She protested.

The Russian folded her arms and looked outside, where the wind had picked up and was blowing the snow viciously into the window. Zimyatov, no doubt.

"That's something you may never understand until you've lived the lives we have." She replied quietly before changing the topic. "Either way… you know the drill; Drayea's in charge while I'm not there."

Drayea shook her head and pulled on her coat.

"Mitsu, Riikka, let's go. Taylia, I'll be back tomorrow; give us a ring if anything happens."

"Likewise."

As the other three disappeared into the snow, the roar of the engine dying as they left, Taylia looked back out at the snow.

The dragon was furious.

* * *

(**A/N:** _My god, Russian is hard to put into English letters._)

* * *

"Junk… junk… junk… don't know them… ad… more junk… fuck." 

Drayea groaned and reclined in the office chair, glaring at the screen accusingly. Since Taylia was temporarily absent, she'd spent the last hour or so going through the seemingly endless stacks of post and emails on the Four Winds' email account.

So far…

Mostly junk.

Goody.

_Zapadno_ pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling an impending headache. Oh, and it got better, too.

The breeze outside had escalated to a full-blown blizzard, and over the sounds of tree branches hitting the window panes, the howl of the wind carried Zimyatov's wrath all over the area in its wake.

Taylia definitely wasn't going to be back until the next day.

She vaguely recalled when Taylia was unconscious at the hospital when they had escaped; Arseni had taken out his rage on the forest by setting it ablaze, burning it so hard that no attempt made to put it out did much if anything. However, just as fast as the phoenix had set fire to the trees, he snuffed it out.

Bit beasts had strange ways of working out their fury.

The annoying little noise from the email window alerted her to a new message.

_I swear, if it's another ad for some stupid drug…_

She scrolled up to the top of the list, mildly surprised to see that it was from Tala and titled to Taylia.

Why in the world was he emailing Taylia?

Or more to the point…

How the frick did he get a hold of her contact?

…

_I'm not even going to think about that._

She opened the email, ignoring the nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she shouldn't be reading Taylia's personal mail.

**Privyet-**

**Are you online?**

Aside from the email address attached to the bottom, that was all it said.

(**Privyet- Casual hello**)

Having nothing better to do, she hit Reply.

**_Guten Abend-_**

**_Taylia's not here at the moment. Is it important? _**

**_-D.N.R_**

_Click._

'Message sent'.

**(Guten Abend- Good Evening)**

At most, maybe a minute or two passed before Tala sent back a reply.

**Not really. Just trying to pass the time through a bout of insomnia.**

Drayea cocked an eyebrow; was it some kind of trait among captains to be diagnosed with weird sleeping disorders?

**_Christ- what is it that you Russian captains do to keep yourselves up all night?_**

She couldn't help but roll her eyes at his reply.

**You're up at this unholy hour, aren't you?**

_Touché._

**_Your point being…?_**

**Nothing, really. Dare I ask what you're doing reading your captain's email?**

Drayea glared at the email. She could practically see the smirk on his face.

Bastard.

**_I'll answer that when you tell me how you got Taylia's email address._** She typed back, smirking triumphantly.

**Ah, touché. At least we killed ten minutes.**

Drayea glanced away from the screen to the clock in the corner of the office; ten minutes, on the dot.

**_Only four more hours to go, nein?_** (_Nein- No_)

**Heh, I wish. I'll probably be up at least another six if I'm lucky**. 

**_Fun. How you get by, I will never know._**

**I _am_ me, and I don't even know.**

While waiting for another reply, Drayea deleted the previous messages which were taking up more space in the inbox. The last thing she needed was one of her teammates' teasing her for chatting with someone of the opposite sex… civilly.

She looked over at the toolbar at the bottom of the screen; one of the instant messaging programs Mitsu had installed to chat with some of her relatives back home in Japan or America was active.

_Hmmm…_

* * *

On the other end of the line, Tala was about to hit the Reply button when a window popped up. 

**Japanese-Cowgirl-Raiuma:**

**Guess who.**

The cursor in the box at the bottom of the window blinked, waiting for him to respond.

**Russian-Snake:**

**Okay, I give. Who?**

He made a mental note to tease Ian about his username… or for even having an instant messaging account at all. No doubt to talk to Danica.

_Smirk._

**Japanese-Cowgirl-Raiuma: **

**What, you didn't guess by the username:P …hold on. This name is starting to bother me.**

**German-Griffin: **

**There. Less obnoxious.**

Amused by the game, he changed his own username.

**Russian-Wolf: **

**Wow, aren't we original. **

**German-Griffin: **

**Indeed.**

**Russian-Wolf: **

**So… what now?**

* * *

By the time Drayea actually bothered to look up at the clock again, she was surprised to find that they'd killed nearly three hours online. 

Admittedly, the redhead had quite the knack with words; on top of being charming and cleverly sarcastic, he could hold an intelligent conversation.

Oh, happy day!

The clock chimed the hour, breaking the hold on the griffin.

_Twelve midnight. Fantastic._ She thought bitterly, her eyelids starting to feel very heavy.

**German-Griffin: **

**Sorry Tala. I'm going to have to cut our little chat short; Taylia's the insomniac, not me.**

**Japanese-Cowgirl-Raiuma: **

**And now no one will ever know I was here.**

**Russian-Wolf: **

**(sigh) **

**Russian-Wolf:**

**Before you go, can I ask you something?**

**Japanese-Cowgirl-Raiuma: **

**Can I stop you?**

He sent back a laughing smiley face.

**Japanese-Cowgirl-Raiuma: **

**Fire away.**

There was a pause.

**Russian-Wolf: **

**About what happened when we brought Anniina over… you don't hate me for that, do you?**

* * *

When he didn't receive a reply for a moment, Tala frowned; maybe he'd asked too touchy a question a little too soon? 

The notion was ruled out when a reply finally came in.

**Japanese-Cowgirl-Raiuma:**

**I could never hate you.**

_Japanese-Cowgirl-Raiuma has logged off._

Even despite the abrupt departure of the German, as he read the reply over again Tala couldn't help but smile.

* * *

"_(yawn)_ I wonder if Dad left any messages overnight…" 

Except for the sleepy East Wind blader's spoken-aloud thoughts, all was silent in the early morning of the household. Drayea, Riikka and Anniina were still asleep, and as part of her daily rounds to check on everyone, Mitsu went to the computer to see if anyone had dropped a line while she was offline.

"Hey… I never logged off…"

* * *

"_She's still here?_" 

"_Yeah, she's been sitting there all night._"

"_All night??_"

Despite that she could hear the nurses gossiping to themselves, obviously about her, Taylia kept her head bowed to keep up the façade of being asleep.

The only reason she was still there was thanks to a rather corny but well-acted-out 'she's been my best friend since childhood and I'm not going to leave her here all by herself' drama, courtesy of yours truly.

One of her more brilliant performances if she did say so herself.

In fact, she _did_ say so herself.

…Out of the earshot of the doctors, mind you.

Other than the scene she made of staying with Nadriya and Zimyatov unleashing his fury on the area outside the hospital, the night had been relatively uneventful. The Russian dragon's vital signs remained normal, and no one –save for a nurse to change out one of the IV drips on two occasions- had entered.

_She survived her first night at the hospital…she should last long enough to heal a bit._

However…

She lazily sat up and cracked her back loudly, then her neck.

"…ow…"

It was rather hard to sleep sitting in a hospital chair; she probably got 4 hours at best, what with shifting to spare her back some misery and being on guard at the same time.

Inside her back pocket, she felt her cell phone vibrating; probably Drayea. Fishing it out, she flipped it open.

"What the fuck do you want" She grumbled tiredly.

"_Well, good morning to you too._" Drayea replied sarcastically. "_And how is our _–snort- _ray of sunshine doing today?_"

"Drayea, do me a favor; if I _ever_ become a ray of sunshine, hit me as violently as humanly possible over the head with the heaviest blunt object you can find."

"_Is it just a hobby of yours to drag things out to be so long and sarcastic that only you can really understand yourself?_"

"Possibly; I figured at least you would be able to get me, seeing how long we've known one another."

"_Hey, I'm just the swabber, cap'n._"

"So, what is it that's so urgent that you're up at this unholy hour of the morning?"

"_Tai, it's only 7 o'clock in the am. If it's 'unholy hours' you want, I'll get Mitsu when **she** gets up to call you the next time you spend the night somewhere._"

Taylia's otherwise tired expression became sour.

"Just tell me what the crap is going on, _Zapadno._ I can't even appreciate sarcasm at this hour." She growled.

"_A certain _Vostochniy_ received an email from parental unit one, i.e. Dad, saying that he was going to fly in for a visit to see her. Not wanting to be rude, naturally she offered to let him stay here._"

Taylia sighed and rubbed her eyes with her thumb and forefinger.

"Fine, see if I care. It's not like we don't have room." She groaned. "But if that bloody American cowboy is half as obnoxious as she is, I'm throwing both of them out."

On the other end, Drayea laughed.

"_Ah yes, the ever-generous and giving Syeverniy Vyeter. Where would we be without you?_"

"Do you _really_ want me to answer that question?"

"_Hardy har-har. Funny, Taylia._"

She smirked.

"I try."

"_Try less._"

Taylia laughed.

"_So…how did Nadriya fare her first night?_"

"Thankfully, pretty well; we got to her just in time. However, I'm going to have to get Mr. Dickenson to get a BBA agent down here; it's too risky to leave her here by herself, especially while she's this vulnerable." She replied, her tone grim.

"_I see… anything any of us can do from here?_"

"No, don't worry about it. I dragged you into this mess, so I'll take care of it."

Drayea sighed.

"_Whatever you say, Syeverniy. I'll be by to pick you up as soon as Riikka can fix the plow to the front of the truck._"

"Alright; see you then."

Snapping her phone shut, Taylia stood up and stretched wearily, yawning aloud in an attempt to dispel the thoughts of going back to sleep. Tempting, but she couldn't.

Turning to the injured blader on the bed, her expression turned to one of sympathy; however, it quickly changed when she caught sight of Nadriya's clothing; it was far beyond any hopes of repair, but there had been a good reason she'd told the nurses not to throw them out.

Digging into the pocket she'd seen her draw her blade from, Taylia pulled out the still slightly-damaged Zimyatov HMS Gigus and brushed off a bit of dirt. The dragon's bit chip was blank, not surprisingly though with it wrecking havoc outside.

_Ahh, I see._

Before she turned to leave, the North Wind blader pressed the blade into its mistress' pale hand.

"Stay alive, Nadriya." She growled. "We're going to need all the help we can get."

She didn't notice her hand close around the beyblade.

* * *

"**Finally.**" 

Taylia cocked an eyebrow; she, Drayea and Riikka were seated in the hospital cafeteria, the eldest with a newspaper open to the sports section.

"What?" Riikka inquired, setting down her tea.

"Two of the teams have been eliminated from the tournament; the Conquistadors and the F-Dynasty."

Taylia smirked.

"It's about time. They'll need the extra time to train." She mused aloud. "That reminds me… would one of you _please_ explain to me why Mitsu decided not to come along?"

Riikka sighed and folded her arms.

"C'mon Tai, do you really need an explanation? Her Dad's coming in a few days, you do the math."

"Ahh, I see. Let me guess, training her ass off to get in as much practice as possible?"

"You got it. Apparently, when she told us about her parents' divorce, she left out the part where she explains that they blame one another for anything Mitsu does to mess up. She's probably trying to prove to Mr. Utariyma that her mother has nothing to do with her blading skills." Drayea put in.

Taylia folded her hands and rested her elbows on the table.

It made sense, though. Mitsu's parents had divorced when she was about 9 years old, and it had turned into a rather ugly mess. The two couldn't stand each other, and if ever their daughter's grades slipped or something to make her upset occurred, they would be at each other's throats blaming the other for allowing it to happen.

Still, Mitsu managed to keep up a cheerful front and was always trying to keep the peace between the Mr. Utariyma and Ms. Higurashi.

"Does it say anything in there about the Soviet Knights?" She asked.

It was Drayea's turn to raise an eyebrow, and she received a glare in return.

"I'd look it up myself, but according to _someone_ we know, I look like that nerdy BBA Revolution kid with my glasses on." She growled.

The raised eyebrow became a smirk; Riikka's grin was poorly hidden behind her mug.

"All it has is the list of wins and losses accumulated by each team and the sets for this week. Apparently, the two teams ready to be eliminated next are the PPB All Starz and the White Tigers X. Who could blame them, after Lilja and Nadriya put their two best bladers out of commission for so long."

"How do we rank in the standings?"

"No losses; we're up at the top right under the Soviet Knights and BBA Revolution, and tied with the Blitzkrieg Boys."

Riikka took the page from Drayea, scanning the page.

"We're due to go against the Justice Five in four days." She muttered, furrowing her brow. "Dammit… I should probably be back at home with Mitsu, training."

Taylia looked at her younger teammate.

"You really have your heart set on facing Garland, huh?" She asked softly.

The frown became a scowl.

"After the stunt he pulled in the halls, I'm going to exact some revenge in the only way I know how." She growled. "Besides…this could be the only chance I get to prove that I'm not as weak as some people think I am."

Drayea and Taylia exchanged looks.

_Bryan._

"Well the, what are we sitting around here for? We should be getting to work!" Drayea announced, standing up. "We'll pay Nadriya a quick visit, and then we're out of here."

"Since when are you the captain?"

Drayea just smirked.

* * *

"Raiuma, Aurora Lumen!!" 

The light in the street lamps went out as bolts of miniature lightning shot out of Mitsu's Z-Columbine, leaving whatever it touched crackling with hundreds of volts of electricity.

Naturally, she wasn't going to use her fully charged version, especially not where there were so many conductors in the vicinity.

Deciding that she didn't want to put out any fires, she'd taken her beyblade to a remote part of town where she'd seen Riikka practice. The problem was, since it was a park, albeit a desolate one, there was metal all over the place; street lamps, rails, even the frames of the two benches bolted to the ground some thirty yards away.

Normally, Aurora Lumen only had a range of a few yards, just enough to cover a beydish, but when the air was this dry it became almost dangerous from the extra static Raiuma drew from the surrounding area.

She scowled inwardly at Riikka's joking suggestion to plug her beyblade into an outlet.

**_Once more?_** Raiuma asked.

"No, I think that's enough."

The beyblade flew back to her hand, the charge grounded when it came in contact with her thick winter gloves.

_Fucking hell…why does it have to be so cold here?_

Sure, she was used to the blizzards that oftentimes fell heavily on the state of Wyoming, the kinds of days spent inside in front of the fire, usually with a guitar and the ranch hands; Russia was a whole new extreme.

Even some of the worst winters in either Wyoming or Japan couldn't compare with the low temperatures it hit around here during the day.

The middle of the night, she didn't even want to think about.

At least the blizzard that had been raging overnight had died away; she had the vague notion that Taylia had something to do with it.

"_Hey! Ajaa te kaivata osakas_?" (**Hey! Do you need a partner?**)

"I have no idea what you just said, but I'll bite."

Riikka grinned, her guisarme rested on one shoulder with her arm draped lazily over the end to keep it level.

"_Antaa objektimuoto alkaa_."

Mitsu glared at her teammate.

"Dammit Riikka, when will you get it that I don't fucking speak Finnish?"

The ram laughed.

"Let us begin." She translated, taking her launcher off her shoulder and loading the Z-Sonic into the shaft in the handle.

Mitsu smirked, doing the same with her naginata and Z-Columbine.

"Oh, _Vostochniy._"

The East Wind blader raised an eyebrow to indicate she was listening as they both shifted into their blading stances.

"I want you to come at me like I'm Solongo; fists, feet and all."

"What are you, crazy? I don't want to beat you up!"

Riikka glowered.

"If I can't learn to take a hit in four days, I'm going to be royally screwed going up against Garland. Besides… taking it easy on me won't improve your game."

Mitsu rolled her eyes in defeat.

"Alright, but you asked for it, so no complaining after I pummel you." She shot back, smirking confidently.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Care to do the honors?"

"I would. 3, 2, 1, LET IT RIIIPP!!"

* * *

**Yurii:** _Alright, the emails an d reviews are in… **I'M STAYING YURII SAVINOV**. _

_This time, leave me some reviews! Long ones make me happy :) _

_I rather enjoyed writing the phone conversation between Drayea and Taylia, but I think the way I wrapped up the chat with Drayea and Tala was incredibly cliché. Tell me how it was._


	10. Vengeance

**Changing Winds**

**Vengeance**

* * *

**Yurii:** _I actually like how that chapter went; and it's only going to get more interesting and twisty as we go. WAHAHA!_

_CHECK OUT MY HOMEPAGE AND DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!!_

_I was REEAAALLLLY hyper when I wrote the first 6 pages of this :D –eye twitches- Nyehhehehehehehehehe….. _

**POLL  
****Who do YOU think would win in a beybattle?**  
**1) Riikka vs. Garland?**  
**2) Taylia vs. Kai?  
****3) Drayea vs. Tala? **

* * *

"Ow… easy with that, that's my only left arm!" 

"Do I even have to say it? _You asked for it._ Literally."

Riikka shot Mitsu a glare as Drayea put ice on her sore left arm; even though the Japanese-American wasn't particularly strong, most of her moves involved straining the joints and using leverage to her advantage.

She didn't even want to imagine what she was going to look like after she fought Garland.

"Fucking hell…"

Mitsu opened her mouth to make an 'I-told-you-so' comeback, but was cut off by an annoying two-bit version of some old eighties song.

"Sorry… gotta take this." She pardoned herself sheepishly before pulling out her cell.

"_Moshi-moshi. Utariyma Mitsu desu._" (**Hello; this is Utariyma Mitsu**)

Drayea raised an eyebrow when a higher-pitched voice replied in Japanese, getting Mitsu to wince slightly and turn down the volume on her phone.

"_Itai…_" (**Ouch…**)

Riikka smirked at her taller teammate's pain.

"Aww, is _okaa-san_ calling to check on her _aka-chan_?" She cooed sarcastically, tilting her head with her hands clasped together in mock-adoration.

(**Okaa-san- Mom; Aka-chan- Baby**)

She received a rude hand gesture in reply before the East Wind blader walked away, talking back in rapid-fire dialogue to her mother on the phone.

"_What? When did you plan this?…No, I'm glad you're coming, it's just kind of sudden!…But, Mom…Mom, Taylia's already stressed out as it is, I don' t know if she'd like it…**no**, Mom, she does **not** run my life for me._"

There was a long pause, followed by a sigh.

"_Alright, fine. I'll see you in a few days._"

A moment later, an exasperated Mitsu stalked into the room, sat at next to Riikka, and let her head fall to the table with a painful-sounding 'THUD'.

"I take it things didn't go well." Drayea said, but it was more of a statement than a guess.

"Fuck dammit… why does Mom have to be so pushy??" Mitsu groaned. "Now _she's_ coming over in a few days, like, two days after Dad."

Drayea sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"You'll want to talk to Taylia about this." She grumbled.

Mitsu just groaned before standing up again and walking around the table to leave; she was stopped when Drayea grabbed her wrist.

"Hold it right there; I know you're stressed out, but the last thing you need now is your hands all bloodied and beaten. Heaven forbid you go on another tree-punching tangent." Drayea scolded her. "I know what you do when you're upset."

The younger blader rolled her eyes.

"And here I thought you would be grateful that I was taking my anger out on something other than Riikka." Mitsu sighed, her tone heavily laden with sarcasm.

It was Riikka's turn to flip her the birdy.

"Regardless; I'm not letting you go out there while you're in one of your masochistic moods."

Mitsu rolled her eyes.

"Yes, mom." She drawled sardonically.

Drayea shot her a mock-angry look.

"Don't speak to me with _that_ tone of voice, young lady!" She snapped, exaggerating the typical 'mother' stereotype.

Mitsu laughed, the German's parody look becoming a good-natured smile.

"Promise me you won't do something stupid?" She asked, being stern this time.

"Fine, I promise."

"Did I miss something here?"

All three bladers looked to the doorway where Taylia was leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed and wearing a raised-eyebrow 'you-know-something-I-don't-and-you're-gonna-tell-me-what-it-is' look.

"Yo, Tai, would you mind taking a walk with me?"

* * *

"Jesus fucking Christ… doesn't your mom take _iie_ for an answer?" 

(**Iie- 'no' in Japanese**)

"Apparently not."

Taylia's sigh was almost identical to Mitsu's. Needless to say, Ms. Higurashi was a proud lady who didn't like to be told 'no' or any other form of it. The woman was a rather powerful employee of some electronics manufacturer, and even though she was very focused on getting only the best for her family…

_Gods,_ she was **such** a _pain_ in the ass!

"And it gets worse; she's invited herself over, under the same roof Dad will be staying in." Mitsu groaned. "I hope you have some kind of bomb shelter built, because World War Three is probably going to break out."

Taylia narrowed her eyes.

"They stay under my house, they also stay under my rules; if they can't put their differences aside for the two weeks they're here, I'm going to kick both of them out on their asses. Literally." She assured her younger teammate. "I'm the captain around here, and they better know it."

Mitsu rolled her eyes.

"You're such a control freak, Taylia."

…

"Taylia?"

**WHAP!**

"Rule number one of living under my rules: pay attention!"

Mitsu whirled around, the snowball flung at the back of her head falling off onto her shoulders as she glared furiously at her grinning captain, who was tossing a freshly-packed snowball up and down in one hand.

"Oh, so _that's_ how you want it, eh?"

She scooped up a handful of snow, packing it into a ball.

"Two can play at this game!"

* * *

Not far away, nearby the frozen river a familiar blue beyblade was hammering the frozen water with attacks, trying to get it to crack. 

Even though Seaborg was a water type, ice was going to be a huge weak spot when the Blitzkrieg Boys faced either the Soviet Knights (Nadriya) or the Four Winds (Drayea).

Spencer idly wondered if having an ice-based bit beast was some kind of regulation on the Russian teams.

(**Only the Four Winds know about what happened to Nadriya**)

The tall Russian's beyblade returned to his hand as it started to run out of steam, but before he could launch it again, a noise cut him off. It wasn't very far away, and it sounded human.

"_Taylia, I am going to **kill** you!_"

It sounded a lot like…Mitsu?

What was she doing here?

_Only one way to find out._

Through the bushes and trees between the clearings, he was mildly surprised to see the East and North Wind bladers engaged in a fierce snowball fight, and by the look of it, Taylia was winning.

Badly.

A few yards away, Mitsu had taken refuge behind a crudely-built snow fort and was trying to build up a stockpile of snowballs. What she didn't notice was that Taylia had disappeared into the trees and was closing in on her teammate with a handful of snow.

"AHA!"

Mitsu started to turn as soon as she realized that an evilly-grinning Taylia was behind her, but was too late as she grabbed her collar and shoved the snow down the back of her shirt. Mitsu let out a shriek of surprise and practically flying-leapt over the wall of her 'fortress', flailing her arms and shouting.

"COOOOLLLDDD!!! IT'S COLD!!!"

While the Japanese-American girl was dancing around (making some kind of attempt to get the snow out of her shirt) and swearing violently in English, the Russian girl was quite literally rolling on the ground with laughter.

_Women are confusing._

* * *

"_Tadaima!_" (**Tadaima- Japanese phrase meaning I'm Home**) 

Surprisingly, it was Taylia that shouted it. Drayea and Riikka, who were busy making adjustments to the younger's Ukko Z-Sonic, looked up and couldn't help but smirk when their teammates walked in covered in snow and shivering but looking very cheerful.

With their hands behind their backs.

"Dare I ask what happened?" The German sniggered.

Taylia smirked triumphantly while Mitsu just grinned.

"Oh, not much. Aside from getting frostbite, that is…" Taylia began.

"She beat the snot out of me in a snowball fight." Mitsu said point-blank.

Riikka put on a mock-sad face.

"Aww, and you didn't include us? I feel so hurt!"

At that, Taylia and Mitsu looked at one another, grinned, and pulled out a snowball each from behind their backs.

"YAHH!"

Both Riikka and Drayea tried to flee, but even with their training-sharpened reflexes, they both succeeding in getting a snowball shoved down the backs of their shirts.

**Taylia- 2; Mitsu- 1**

"Run, Mitsu, run for your _life_!"

"STRELNIKOV I'M GOING TO **KILL** YOU!!!"

"PROMISES, PROMISES, THAT'S ALL YOU GIVE ME _ZAPADNO_!!"

While Drayea abandoned their project to chase down her two teammates so she could maim and/or kill them both, Riikka stayed behind and shook the snow out of her shirt, resuming her seat and shaking her head when she caught sight of the newspaper article with the list of battles.

"We are so screwed."

* * *

"WELCOME BACK ladies and gentlemen to week two of the Beyblading World Tournament! After last week's tough matches, two teams have been eliminated from the standings; the Conquistadors and the F-Dynasty, leaving only the Majestics to represent Western Europe!!" DJ Jazzman shouted into the mike. 

"The survivors of the first week include the Majestics, the Justice Five, the three Russian teams the Blitzkrieg Boys, Soviet Knights and Four Winds, the BBA Revolution and White Tigers X!"

The crowd roared with their applause and cheering, many fans waving banners or flags to cheer on their favorite teams or players. The wind and sleet had finally subsided yesterday, much to Taylia's relief; Zimyatov had calmed down after nearly three straight days of putting Saint Petersburg through a frozen hell.

Speaking of…

Much to the relief of the Four Winds, they had received word from the doctors after the dragon's wrath had ended that Nadriya could be taken out of the ICU. She was still in very fragile condition, but she would live.

However…

She hadn't yet woken up, and even if she had, Nadriya was completely vulnerable.

Frankly, she wouldn't put it past Alekzander to try and kill her; that is, assuming he knew that she was still alive.

For her sake, Taylia was hoping she'd be up on her feet soon.

Soon, as in before Alekzander found out.

Even if she was weak, Nadriya could still use her bit beast or seek refuge in the Four Winds' current residence.

Said Russian team was still there, out in back training, preparing for their battle against the Justice Five team; none of them practicing as furiously as Riikka. While the World Tournament blared over the radio, it was ultimately being ignored for practice.

"_3, 2, 1, LET IT RIIIPP!!!_"

Both in the beystadium and back at the Strelnikov manor, the bladers on either side of the dish unleashed their beyblades with a battle cry; now that teams were being eliminated, it was going to get very serious.

Now it was a World Tournament.

* * *

"Very foolish, Strelnikov. You give yourself away too easily." 

Alekzander smirked and folded his hands, elbows on his desk, the monitor displaying a car pulling out of the driveway in front of the Russian girl's team's home, a clip with the time at the bottom reading a half hour later as another one pulled up.

In another window, a list of in-patients of every hospital within a two-hour car drive was displayed, narrowed down to one facility, then to one sector….

Then to one patient.

One certain Russian dragon, a Nadriya Valenya Rzhyov.

He knew that the Four Winds were taking shifts watching over the former BIOVOLT blader, having one person there at all hours of the night and day.

He sniggered.

They thought it would keep him away, did they?

"You know what to do."

"Yes, sir."

The door slammed shut again, footsteps echoing down the hallway until they disappeared from earshot.

Alekzander folded his arms and smirked.

_I'm going to hit you where it hurts the most, Syeverniy._

* * *

"_Your shift's over, Riikka. You can start heading back now._" 

The Finn yawned and stood up, stretching her legs and cracking her back.

"Roger that, _Zapadno_." She groaned tiredly. "See you in a few."

Flipping her phone shut, she pocketed it again and headed out; Nadriya had woken up some time ago, but had fallen back asleep shortly after.

As much as she hated to admit it, she too was starting to worry about the former captain. It normally took a lot to change her mind about a person once she knew them, but in reality, she wouldn't wish anything bad on anyone….

Well….

_Most_ anyone.

She smirked at the thought of how she was going to beat the crap out of Garland in two days. In the time she wasn't taking her shift at the hospital, she'd been training like hell. Problem was, she looked a lot worse for wear; she was exhausted, and spent most of her shifts asleep.

Riikka was planning to cram in as much training as possible in the next few days.

As usual, it was cold outside, and getting colder as the sun disappeared under the line of the horizon. Riikka zipped up her navy-blue parka and shoved her hands into her pockets, struggling to choke down another yawn.

_WHY did I volunteer to take the late shift?_ She grumbled internally.

A frigid gust of wind passed by, making her sink lower into her jacket.

Damned cold… even Finland wasn't this bad in the dead of winter.

As much time as she could have killed complaining about how cold it was, her attention was averted when something shot out of the trees circling half of the parking lot; she stumbled back, the thing streaking past where her face would have been.

Whatever it was, it hit the ground with a clatter, but shot back in the direction it had come, though this time on the ground, disappearing into the dark.

Instinctively, Riikka whipped out her beyblade and loaded it into her normal launcher, unsure of where to aim.

"Whoever's there, come out with your hands where I can see them!"

Somewhere out of the haze, she could make out a figure stalking forward; the only time she'd seen anyone move that way was Taylia when she was especially focused.

Or really, **really** pissed off.

She aimed her launcher at the figure moving towards her.

"Hands in the air!" She shouted, adrenaline starting to kick in.

The figure stopped just outside the circle of light given off by the street lamp, the beyblade that had been shot at her spinning under the glow.

She narrowed her eyes.

_Quidel._

Riikka flicked off the Safety switch on her launcher; if she was going to be anything like the World Tournament matches, she was going to need Ukko.

Back in the dark, the blader sniggered and folded their arms.

"So serious, and yet you had the Safety on?"

She stepped into the light, picking up her blade as she did so.

Behind her, Riikka caught wind of a motor running, maybe a hundred yards away. However, when she did, she mad the mistake of looking back over her shoulder.

"_Quidel, _нападки!!" (**Attack!**)

* * *

From behind the wheel, as soon as Drayea caught sight of the unfamiliar figure across the parking lot from Riikka, the West Wind blader slammed on the gas and raced towards her teammate, slamming on the brakes and screeching to a halt at the entrance. 

Unfortunately, she wasn't fast enough as she threw open the door and loaded Gundula into her own launcher; Riikka had just launched Ukko, but was too late as a burst of fire exploded out of the area she'd aimed at. Having no way to defend herself, the younger blader had put her hands up to try and shield her face.

"**RIIKKA!**"

If she weren't already in a full-on sprint, she'd have run faster towards her teammate, who had been thrown to the ground from the force of the blast.

"TEMPEST SCYTHE!!"

Even if the attack hit its target area, whoever had been there was gone. The wind attack sliced down the trees behind the streetlamp, the felled evergreens kicking up towers of snow as they hit the ground.

Seeing that no one else was there, Drayea turned back and ran to Riikka, who was curled up on the ground and was biting down on her scarf in an attempt to muffle a pained yell.

"Damnit… hang in there, Riikka." She growled, both furious and worried.

Someone was going to pay greatly for this.

* * *

"God… this is all my fault…" 

"Taylia, there was nothing you could have done to prevent this."

The Russian didn't look up, her face buried in her hands. Drayea had managed to pick up her wounded teammate and take her back inside, only managing to get out of her that her assailant had been one of the Soviet Knights.

Solongo.

Now while the doctors were busily bandaging up their teammate, the rest of the team was milling around the waiting room, Mitsu quietly agreeing to stand watch over Nadriya, leaving Drayea and Taylia to themselves.

The latter couldn't seem to stay in one place for very long, switching from sitting in one of the chairs, head in her hands, to pacing back and forth, to leaning her forehead against the wall.

Drayea merely watched; she couldn't recall a time when she'd seen the Russian so sick with worry and guilt. She could tell, Taylia was blaming herself for what happened.

"Yes, it is."

She turned to her captain, who had finally replied.

"I was so focused on Nadriya's safety that I completely forgot about the possibilities of any of you being attacked. I let my guard down, and now Riikka's paying for it."

Her hands clenched slightly, her shoulders tensing.

Despite the fact that it looked like she was about to cry, Drayea knew better. For one thing, Taylia didn't cry; the guilt tugging at her wasn't from sadness.

It was rage.

Raw, feral rage.

First, it had been Nadriya, who had been so badly hurt that she couldn't even walk on her own; now he'd gotten Riikka, one of the most vulnerable members of their team.

And she was blaming it all on herself.

Alekzander Nelyubova was going to face one very, **very** angry Armageddon.

"Miss Rothstein and Miss Strelnikov, I presume?"

The two bladers looked up at the doctor who had entered; she'd become very familiar with the girls from their daily visits, and had even chatted with them from time to time when their shifts crossed times.

"How's she doing?" Taylia inquired, sounding almost cautious.

"Her hands have been seriously burned, all the way up to her elbows. Come with me."

The two got up to follow her to Riikka's cubicle, where their teammate was lying on the bed, an IV in each arm, which were bandaged up over her elbows. Her expression was almost mellow from the painkillers that had been injected.

"Hey, Riikka." Taylia greeted her teammate, tone almost soft.

She smiled weakly, glad to see her captain and Drayea.

"Before you say anything, Tai, it wasn't your fault." She muttered, almost humorous.

Taylia received a tap on the shoulder.

"Miss Strelnikov, if I could have a word with you?"

She nodded.

"I'll be right back."

* * *

While Taylia followed the doctor out of her makeshift room, Drayea sat down beside Riikka's bedside and sighed deeply. 

"Shit…"

Riikka sighed as well and closed her eyes.

"How's she been taking it?"

"Badly. I'm sure you know how poorly, after you interrupted her from groveling and begging your forgiveness." Drayea replied, rubbing her temples.

Riikka opened her eyes again to look at her eldest teammate.

"And Nadriya?"

"Safe and fine. Mitsu is taking her shift now."

There was silence between the two, letting the Finn look over to the part in the curtains where Taylia was saying something to the doctor in hushed Russian, her expression going from angry, to worried, to hurt.

"_Alright…I'll tell her._"

Taylia came back through the curtains, still with that subtly upset expression. Riikka's face fell at the look.

"Tai?"

Her captain shut her eyes and sighed heavily before sinking into the seat on her other side.

"God… I don't know how to say this…"

Their younger teammate's expression became slightly afraid.

"Tell me what it is, Tai…"

Taylia sighed again, looked towards the curtains, then back again.

"Riikka, your hands were really badly burned, so much that you may not be able to move them for a while…" She started.

"…and…?"

"I'm really sorry Riikka… but I'm going to have to take you out of the World Tournament. You won't be facing Garland."

The look on her face was like she'd just been stabbed in the chest, and even Drayea couldn't hide her shock.

"W-what? I can't-! I can still blade, Tai!" She stammered, raising her voice as she became more upset.

"Riikka, you can't even move your hands! How can you possibly blade, much less fight Garland in this kind of condition??" Taylia shouted back, just as upset as she was. "If you try to keep on going, you're going to hurt yourself even worse!"

Riikka, hurt more by the news than her captain's tone, fell back against the pillow, draping an arm over her eyes and biting her lip.

She was trying not to cry.

Taylia averted her eyes again.

"I'm sorry, Riikka…I don't want to do it, but it's for your own good."

Seeing that she wasn't going to get a reply, Taylia stood up and left, paying no attention to the doctor as she passed.

* * *

_Tick…tick…tick…_

Riikka looked over at the clock, bleary-eyed.

One-thirty a.m.

_Shit…_

As tired as she was, she wasn't able to sleep; the words when Taylia had told her she was being taken from the Tournament had probably run through her head hundreds of times by now.

Over on the bedside table, her beyblade sat there as if waiting to be used. Even in the darkness, she could see the scratches and dents in her beyblade from usage and hard wearing.

For probably the first time since she began her grueling training binge, she realized just how hard she had been pushing herself and her bit beast.

At the thought of all the strain and stress she went through, she frowned, which turned into a scowl.

_I've worked way too hard and come too far to be stopped now._

With that thought settled in her head, she lay back; with quite a bit of effort, she managed to –albeit gingerly and painfully- close her hand, determination embedded into her mind.

_I'm not going to go down like this. Not like this._

* * *

**Yurii:** _Wow. _

_That really monumentally **sucked ass**._

_Reviews appreciated, flames laughed at. You know the drill._


	11. Important Author's Note!

**Yurii:** _Hey, wassup peeps:D _

_Hehehe... _

_Anyways, just letting you all know; I'm going to take a short intermission from writing Pyeremena Vyeter. (Not as long as the last one, don't worry.) _

_Ya know, accumulate a few more reviews, recharge the old fanfic batteries and stuff. _

_Don't kill me please! _

_-Yurii Savinov_


	12. Determination

**Changing Winds**

**Determination**

* * *

**Yurii:** _There, I posted a chapter before I left for Washington. _

_I'm pissed. 'Why?' you may ask. Simple. For one thing, I'm TIRED of people using my work, even the ones with good intentions. _

**_I don't fucking care how much you like my stories, people. STOP TAKING MY MATERIAL, DAMN IT!!_**

_I'm especially tired of seeing people, even after posting threats and links to name dictionaries, using the names I was wracking my brain to come up with . _

**_IT'S CALLED FUCKING _PLAGERISM_ YOU ASSHOLES._**

_Sorry for my little outburst, but I had to get that out of the way._ _IF YOU WANT TO BORROW SOMETHING FROM ME, ASK ME. I want credit for the stuff I wrote._

**_Poll results at the bottom._**

* * *

Except for the hum of the engine, it was relatively silent on the drive home from the hospital; both Nadriya and Riikka had finally been pronounced to be in good enough condition to go home… 

Or at least, in Riikka's case…_home._

Drayea glanced in the rear-view mirror at the passenger behind her.

Nadriya was sitting in unmitigated silence in the backseat staring blankly out the window, her normally fierce pale-jade green eyes dull and empty.

She was little more than a vacant shell of a person now.

Any bitterness towards the dragon had been replaced with empathy and a slight sense of defensiveness. Drayea knew all too well what kinds of things she must have been put through while there, let alone what else might have happened to her when she was discharged from BIOVOLT.

Drayea's grip on the steering wheel tightened.

God knows what they could have done to her to leave her so hollow and despondent.

She looked over at Riikka, who was sitting in the same silence as Nadriya, her heavily-bandaged hands cradled in her lap as she stared at them painfully.

Riikka had been so set on facing Garland that she'd put herself through hell and back in a last-ditch effort to cram in enough training to get up to the necessary level. It wasn't so much about the team's victory as it was for Riikka to prove to herself and a certain someone that she wasn't as weak as she seemed.

In less than a minute, that chance had been taken from her, and Drayea had been forced to watch as it happened.

It didn't take a genius to tell.

Riikka was just _crushed._

Keeping her eyes on the road, she absent-mindedly wandered into her own state of being.

Ever since the beginning of their five-month training departure, she'd been harboring animalistic thoughts and feelings of competitiveness and inferiority towards Taylia; it didn't seem to matter how hard she trained, the phoenix was always going to stay ten steps ahead of her.

Looking back on how Taylia had reacted to Nadriya and Riikka being hurt, it seemed to slap her in the face as she realized just how stupid and selfish she had really been.

Suddenly, beating Taylia wasn't so important anymore.

"Hey, Ika."

Riikka looked up at her; normally, her eyes, despite being such a forlorn color, were cheerful and fiery. However, with her given state, they had dimmed to a dull, ashen gray.

"How are your hands?"

The Finn averted her eyes to the window, following the same landscape Nadriya had been staring at for almost twenty or so minutes.

"I can hardly feel them."

The griffin glanced down to her hands, quickly going back to the road.

"Can you move them?"

Riikka's gaze fell to her lap, her hands trying to close weakly but only getting as far as the tops of her fingers curling inward slightly.

"Barely."

Drayea furrowed her brow, the previously thoughtful look becoming determined.

"How badly do you want this?"

At that question, she looked up in surprise at her teammate; she knew from her time with the redhead that whenever she brought up such a topic, she had something planned.

"Enough to give up the rest of the World Tournament for one battle." She replied, face as serious as her answer.

Drayea sighed.

"Well then, we're just going to have to find some way to make it work, won't we."

For the first time in several days, her younger teammate's face broke out into a smile, albeit a small one, but a genuine smile.

Drayea turned the mirror to Nadriya in the backseat.

"You."

The Russian's eyes slowly moved to the mirror to meet her reflection's gaze, expression still void of any feeling.

"I don't care what you say or do, because obviously it means a lot to Taylia to keep you safe, and for some stupid reason it's affecting the rest of us; we're going to get you back on your feet, but as the Nadriya before the Hermitage. Got that? Even if you've given up on yourself, we haven't and won't, so don't write us off yet."

Nadriya just sighed and closed her eyes, as if refusing to believe anyone, let alone her enemies or their captain, her total opposite extreme, could reach her.

Sensing the skepticism radiating off the dragon, Drayea just sighed heavily and turned into the driveway.

_I really pray I'm not just giving them false hope._

* * *

"Okay, my Dad's going to be here any minute now, and he's probably going to expect most of you to speak English…Taylia, you're the only one besides me who can, right?" 

"_No._" She replied, surprisingly with very little accent. "_Nadriya can, too._"

Drayea sulked, annoyed that this American hadn't thought to study another language before flying to a foreign country. Riikka probably couldn't care less, and Nadriya was nowhere in sight.

Knowing her, Taylia had predicted she would stay in the huge library all day; she had been right.

"Just be warned, he's a total cowboy and uses a ton of ridiculous similes that almost never make any sense." She cautioned her captain.

"Don't worry, if my brain warps, I'll be sure to let you know when to duck-and-cover before it implodes." Taylia replied sarcastically.

It was pretty obvious, she was still silently fuming about the week's incidents, and they all could guess; Mitsu's pushy mother had better know who the leader of this pack was, because if she didn't, the Russian phoenix was going to make use of her new-and-improved Solar Ravage Talon.

When _Syeverniy_ was nursing a possible ulcer, a barbeque was pretty much inevitable.

It was both amusing and scary at the same time.

Add to all of this, the fact that both Taylia and Drayea were excessively wary of strangers, much like wolves, and they were in for an interesting week.

**THUD, THUD.**

"That's probably him."

"Does he _usually_ throw his luggage against the door to knock?" Drayea asked sarcastically, referring to the heavy sound at the door.

Mitsu grinned sheepishly as Taylia folded her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"I've questioned that myself."

Vladimir opened the door, and almost in the same instant, Mitsu had already run to her father's arms.

"Dad!"

"Hey, sweetheart, it's good to see you!"

Taylia's expression, which had been wary at first, softened; somehow, she couldn't help but feel a little jealous of Mitsu. She herself had never known the love of a parent, just as Drayea had, but the fact that she remembered hers made it that much more painful. The German, having never seen hers but knowing they abandoned her, really couldn't have cared less. In fact, she hated them with all her being for leaving her.

Just as fast as it had come, the soft expression was gone.

Mitsu pulled away and turned to her teammates to introduce them. Now that he was in plain view, Taylia was free to scrutinize.

Mr. Cody Utariyma was who Mitsu got her half-American blood from, and apparently her height and eyes as well; he had the same blazing green eyes, and if Taylia had to take a guess, probably stood at a good six-foot-five, give or take an inch. Whatever of his messy hair was visible under his black Stetson was chestnut brown or graying, the same as his beard; the man had been marginally smart and had brought his cold-weather attire, meaning a parka that hung down to his knees, thick mittens and a scarf…she wasn't surprised to see that he was wearing sun-faded Levi jeans and leather rancher boots, all of it topped off with an American-Midwest accent.

_Che. What a cowboy._ She thought with amusement.

"Dad, these are the rest of the Four Winds, my teammates." She started. "Riikka…"

The Finn smiled and raised a hand in greeting; Mr. Utariyma took off his hat and smiled back.

"Drayea…"

She also raised a hand, greeting him apathetically in German.

"And the team captain, Taylia; she's kinda the only other one who speaks English, so you may need her to translate if you want to talk to the others." She finished, sounding a bit sheepish.

Mr. Utariyma smiled and shook her hand.

"Pleasure meetin' ya, Miz Strelnikov. Mitsu talks quite highly a' you."

Taylia smirked at her teammate, who grinned.

"Likewise."

For good measure, she tightened her grip on his hand a little, bordering on vice-like.

_I'm the captain here, and you better know it._

Call it habit or instinct; this guy had yet to earn her trust, relative or not.

They let go, he shaking his hand slightly.

"That's some grip ya got there, ma'am." He commented, still with a good-natured tone.

Mitsu shot Taylia a glare, which her father missed.

"_Dmitri_."

The staff member next to her looked up as she gave him some kind of command in Russian before turning to the others.

"I'm going to go check on Nadriya." She told them, reverting back to German. "In the meantime, Mitsu, you can show your dad where his room is."

* * *

"So, are you just going to sit there all day staring out the window, or do you actually intend to do something with yourself?" 

Nadriya glared at the Four Winds' captain, who was leaned against the doorframe, hands in her pockets and sporting a raised eyebrow, before turning back to the window and staring outside at the snow-blanketed trees.

She herself was sitting at one of the window seats, her arms folded defensively and careful not to lean too heavily against the pane; even despite that she was practically mummified in bandages, it still hurt.

Her clothing, which had been in ruins when Taylia had found her half-dead in the snow, had been thrown out and replaced with some of their own; a dark green tank top maybe two sizes too large for her that hung loosely around her thinning frame (Drayea's), a tight black shirt with a single strap attached to the torso by a metal ring, easily visible under the green top (Taylia's), a pair of charcoal-gray cargoes (also Taylia's), her own boots which had been the only thing intact, and a black jacket (Riikka's).

She wasn't going to admit appreciation; it would have been ridiculous for them to let her to walk around in those horrible sterile-white hospital pajamas.

Nadriya made a mental note to burn them.

"…"

Taylia's risen eyebrow went down.

"The least you could do is answer."

Her tone was sarcastic at best.

"Nn."

Taylia sighed at her obstinacy before walking over and pulling up a chair, sitting on it so that she straddled the seat with the back of the chair in front of her to rest her arms on.

Rather than speak, she just folded her arms on top of the chair's back, rested her chin on them, and stared.

And stared…

…

And stared…

…

And stared-

"ARGH! _Jeezus,_ what the _hell_ do you WANT??" She finally burst out, too irritated to try and ignore the younger girl.

Taylia smirked triumphantly.

"That was all." She replied, seeming almost cheerful.

"…huh?"

The smirk became a grin.

"I'm sure Drayea already told you, just because you've given up on yourself doesn't mean we have. Frankly, I have to say that I like the old narcissistic, cynical bitch Kamikaze better than the silent, non-responsive, 'leave me the fuck alone' shell that calls herself Nadriya Rzhyov."

Nadriya gave her a flat glare.

"Thanks, no one else makes the title 'narcissistic, cynical bitch' sound so _loving._" She shot back.

Taylia just sighed.

At least the 'cynical' part coming back was an improvement.

Sort of.

"Look, what I'm getting at is that you shouldn't let what's happened before get in the way of what's happening now. BIOVOLT has no control over you anymore, you don't have to keep shoving everyone away. I'm not suggesting you get all touchy-feely or anything-"

Nadriya snorted at the very notion.

"But at least try and let a bit of light in. Even though you were my enemy, and even if you still are now, I'm not about to sit back and watch you waste away like all those other poor souls that are still back at the Hermitage."

Her sympathetic tone was gone, hardened experience taking its place.

"Whatever it was that he did to you when you were discharged, I know you didn't deserve it. No one deserves the things that scum Alekzander does to happen to them, least of all someone who cared enough about one of their teammates to risk very serious punishment."

The dragon was quiet, knowing full well she was referring to the incident with Lilja's mutation.

Having nothing else to say, the younger Russian stood up to go.

"Oh…almost forgot."

She dug into her pocket and pulled out an obsidian, silver and green beyblade.

"I took the liberty of fixing up Zimyatov. Feel free to join us outside if you want to give it a whirl."

Taylia casually tossed it to her, the elder fumbling it in her hands as she walked away. The door shut with a low click; Nadriya stared at it a moment, almost expecting her to come back, then turned to the refurbished beyblade in her hands.

Her eyes narrowed, grip tightening to the point of pain.

**Nadriya?**

She ignored Zimyatov's query, the glare becoming a scowl.

_Stay out of my head._

* * *

"3, 2, 1, LET IT RIIIPP!!!" 

Both the East and North Wind bladers flung their beyblades into the dish, Mitsu taking up the offensive while Taylia shifted into a low, defensive stance.

On the sidelines, Drayea and Riikka looked on and studied their beyblades, the former silently formulating a plan for her younger teammate. They only had today, that night and half of the next day, and after that it would be too late.

"Raiuma, attack!"

Taylia narrowed her eyes as the younger blader charged; she had specifically ordered that they battle one another like it was their assigned Soviet Knight, and Mitsu was going to need all the practice she could get in before her battle with Solongo.

"Arseni, counter it!"

Much to Mitsu's surprise, Arseni charged straight into her attack, the two blades colliding as the bladers themselves crossed arms, palms up and trying to force the other to give. Not unexpectedly, Taylia was winning.

"Dammit Mitsu!"

She quickly twisted her arm around, grabbing the younger girl's arm in a vice-grip and twisting it behind her in an arm-bar, shoving her face-first into the snow and keeping her other arm pinned under her boot.

"When the hell are you going to get it, Solongo is going to use brute force on you, normal moves aren't going to cut it!" The Russian growled.

Mitsu, indignant, lashed a leg back and landed a hit to Taylia's lower back, enough of a surprise to get the Russian to move her boot; the East Wind blader forced herself up, pushing Taylia off and springing back to put some distance between them.

In the dish, Raiuma swerved away from Arseni; the phoenix remained in place, ready for the next command.

"Arseni, offensive!"

This time, Taylia and her beyblade came careening in, both intending to end the battle right there. Mitsu, slowly getting into sync with her bit beast, pushed aside the fist Taylia had thrown, countering by throwing her elbow back in hopes of landing a blow to her head, herself curving her back for a smoother throw.

The Russian ducked, in the dish Arseni swerving away to dodge the attack, before swinging her fist up into Mitsu's stomach; the Japanese-American doubled over, winded, uttering no sound despite the blow.

"Your moves are too flashy; this isn't about showing off, it's about effectiveness." She growled, digging her fist in.

She stepped swiftly back, Mitsu hitting the snow on her hands and knees. Actually, she was glad that Mr. Utariyma wasn't outside; Mitsu had asked she didn't take it easy on her, but she wasn't too sure her father approved of the idea.

To Taylia's credit, however, she wasn't using nearly what she was capable of –mostly because if she did, she'd probably kill Mitsu; also because she couldn't let the others see just how far her limits extended- and was mainly keeping her attention on getting it through to her subordinate that complex and elaborate moves would only slow her down.

_Come on, Vostochniy…_

* * *

Staggering to her feet, Mitsu coughed tiredly; she'd forgotten just how much of a wallop Taylia's punches packed. 

"Raiuma, go!"

The gold beyblade crackled with static as it bolted at Arseni, Mitsu charging Taylia outside the ring.

_Conservative moves…_

Pulling her arms to rest in front of her defensively, the East Wind blader ducked lower to the ground, tensing to weave her way in and out of attacks.

In the dish, metal clashed with metal, one beyblade a blur of gold, the other moving only as much as was necessary.

Mitsu threw a swift jab at Taylia, the Russian dodging it with relative ease and countering with a similar cross; she ducked, now crouching in front of her captain and open to strike wherever she could reach.

"HYAH!"

She lunged forward, making to drive her fist into her stomach; as fast as Mitsu was, Taylia's reflexes were faster as she curved forward to dodge the roundhouse.

In the dish, Arseni swerved out of the way of Raiuma's assault; they were becoming more evenly matched by means of speed, but the phoenix still vastly overpowered the stallion.

"HAH!"

All it took was one hard snap kick, and Mitsu was on her back with Taylia remaining in her place…five feet away. The Z-Armageddon had smashed the Z-Columbine out of the ring with a forceful blow, and was now whirring in the center of the dish, peaceful with the satisfaction of victory.

"You're going to want to get in some more weight-lifting after this, Mitsu." Taylia lectured as the other blader got up, she herself outstretching a hand to catch her beyblade as it ramped up the side of the dish into the air.

Mitsu, slightly winded still from the force of Taylia's kick, only gave a barely-noticeable nod as she tried to get her breath back.

Seeing that the two would be going at it for a while, Drayea and Riikka stood silently and walked away, the elder with an idea forming in her head.

* * *

"LADIES AND GENTS! WELCOME BACK TO THE BEYBLADE WORLD TOURNAMENT!!!" 

Same as the days before, the roar of the crowd almost reached deafening, only topped by DJ Jazzman shouting into his microphone.

"The first match of the week is gonna set the bar for who will continue and who will be eliminated! Today for you we have –drum roll please- the Justice Five and the Four Winds!"

The fans in the stands somehow managed to scream even louder, somewhere in the uproar a distinct chanting for their favorite teams.

Down in the arena, the Four Winds were short one blader, making it feel uncomfortably empty. Despite the absence of their youngest member, the group was remaining focused and alert; the current lineup was to put Mitsu against Ming-Ming, Taylia against Mystel, and Drayea against Garland.

Normally, Taylia would have taken on the hardest opponent, but given the fact that she was trying to keep her genetically-enhanced strength under wraps until they faced the Soviet Knights, she had to tone it down.

Besides, Drayea could handle him. Easy.

The Russian glanced at their opponents; it was still eating her up that she'd had to take Riikka out of the standings, but it was just too risky and dangerous for her to fight, much less against Garland of all people.

As badly as she wanted to see him get his ass handed to him by someone about half his size…

She shook her head to dispel the thought.

_No more thinking about that. What's done is done, and Drayea's facing Garland, not Riikka. You have your own problems to worry about._

* * *

Needless to say, the battle between Mitsu and Ming-Ming was over quickly; all it had taken was to interrupt her attack with an Aurora Lumen, and Venus was out like a light, pun very much intended. 

Taylia and Mystel's battle was like a déjà vu of Danica versus the F-Dynasty twins. Fire was virtually useless in the middle of an ocean arena (at least, the Solar Ravage Talon was, and she wasn't about to reveal the heavy artillery this early in the game), so lightning had to suffice.

_"Photon Ravage Talon!"_

Sushi, anyone?

Of course, to keep from becoming too conspicuous, lest Alekzander be watching, she'd had to pull out her Suicide Technique and land both of their beyblades out of the arena. It was starting to become very tiresome, always putting a dampener on the phoenix's real power.

"And now, ladies and gents, with the score able to go either way, we come to the third and final match!" DJ Jazzman announced. "Blading for the Justice Five will be their captain, Garland Tzebult!"

As the Justice Five captain started to take the stage and Taylia headed back to the bench, she was surprised to find only Mitsu sitting there.

"Where's Drayea?" She growled.

Of all times to run off…

Mitsu shrugged her arms helplessly. She'd been so absorbed watching Taylia's match that she'd failed to notice that Drayea had given them the slip.

Dammit…

"I'll go."

Both Winds looked to the bottom of the stairwell that led down under the stands to the bench; Riikka, wearing a look of absolute determination and focus, was standing in front of them, hands bandaged up with her launcher clenched firmly in hand, tied in place with a bandana.

"Riikka, we've been over this, you can't go out there." Taylia reprimanded her teammate, aware that their stalling would cost them if they didn't hurry up.

The Finn glowered at her, her eyes the color of molten metal.

"I don't think there's a choice here, Tai. Drayea's not here, and neither of you can go up a second time. Either you let me blade, or we forfeit the match."

Mitsu looked over at Taylia, who seemed both pissed off and impressed that Riikka had managed to corner her.

The stern glare became a look of surrender as she sighed and put an arm around her youngest subordinate's shoulders.

"You really wanna do this, huh?" She asked.

"Enough to give up the rest of the tournament." Riikka replied.

Taylia ran a hand through her hair and took her arm away.

"Kick his ass."

Her face lit up with a grin, but she didn't dare stall any longer; DJ Jazzman didn't get the chance to remind them of their remaining minute time-out when Riikka jogged up to the platform, her overjoyed look already replaced with a dark glower, and boy did she look like Taylia when she put her heart into it.

"Bladers, ready!"

Riikka slid into her stance, the launcher tied to her hand already loaded and rearing to go.

"3, 2, 1, LET IT RIIIPP!!!"

* * *

**CLIFFIE! WAHAHAHA!**

**That kinda sucked, but it's probably better than nothing…? **

**REVIEW, DAMMIT. **

**A lot of people read and favorited my 'How To Write a Bit Beast' tutorial, but for all my trouble, I got TWO reviews. **

**TWO. **

**That makes me very sad.** **_–sniff- _**

**POLL RESULTS:**

**Winners:**

_Garland _

**_Taylia _**

**_Drayea_**


End file.
